Altered Fates Parts 1 & 2
by David-El
Summary: Nico Grace has always believed himself to be a mere mortal surrounded by tales of fantasy, until the day he meets Cedric Diggory, and then his whole world changes. When his Hogwarts letter arrives, it sets him on a course that will change peoples lives. Discontinued!
1. Marauders

**Altered Fates**

**Part One: The Philosopher's Stone**

**Chapter One: Marauders**

It was September 1, 1979 when they first met. The Hogwarts Express was not even ten minutes out of Platform 9 ¾ when James Potter literally bumped into another twelve year old boy with black hair and grey, almost silver eyes. "Whoops, sorry about that," James said as he helped the boy up. "My name's James Potter. What's yours?"

"Black. Sirius Black." Potter paled at that. The Blacks had a very bad reputation among the magical families of Europe. Many of the Blacks were sorted into Slytherin House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the House that produced the most Dark wizards, and many were strong supporters of the pure-blood movement, a movement led by a Lord Voldemort that would ban all Muggle-born witches and wizards from ever learning magic at their local schools. But before James could pull away, Sirius spoke again. "Wait! I know that my family has a reputation as black as our name, but you could call me the white sheep of the family." Sirius then laughed at his own joke.

James laughed along with him, he always appreciated someone with a good sense of humor, so maybe this guy wouldn't be so bad. "Well, if you are, why don't you come and sit with me? Maybe we could be friends at Hogwarts." They found a compartment with only one other person in it. He had spiky red hair and the bluest eyes either of the boys had ever seen. "Say, do you mind if we sit here?"

"Not at all, I was hoping to meet some people on the train. My name's Eric, Eric Grace."

"My name's James Potter and this is Sirius Black." The duo waited for a reaction, but Eric said nothing. "So, Sirius, what house are you hoping to get sorted into?"

"The house that would make my mother the most upset, Gryffindor. What about you two?"

"Same here," they both said. "From what I've heard, it's the best house," Eric continued.

"From what you've heard?

"Yeah, I'm the first in my family to use magic, as far as we know anyway." They would have kept talking, but another boy knocked on the door and asked to come in. "Sure, the more the merrier, I always say," Eric answered.

This boy had light brown hair and blue eyes, and was extremely pale, as if he'd just had a long illness. "Thanks, my name is Remus Lupin." The rest of the group introduced themselves and by the time the train reached Hogwarts, they had already become fast friends and made an enemy, Severus Snape. They were on bad terms with Snape for two reasons: one, he actually _wanted _to be in Slytherin, and two, Severus had made fun of Eric when he learned that Eric was Muggle-born (which seemed quite odd to the four friends, considering his best friend was a Muggle-born witch.)

Once they were off the train, they were led into boats by Rubeus Hagrid, the half-giant gamekeeper of Hogwarts. Once they were across the lake, they were met by Professor Minerva McGonagall who gave them a quick speech, got them into a line and led them into the Great Hall. Once they had been brought to a space between the students and the teachers, McGonagall brought out a three-legged stool and set an extremely old hat on it. To the surprise of many, the hat began to sing:

_A thousand years ago,_

_Hogwarts was wrought,_

_And many different types of students,_

_To the magic school were brought._

_Slytherin preferred the ones,_

_Who had great ambition._

_Ravenclaw accepted those,_

_With wit worth recognition._

_Hufflepuff valued most,_

_Hard workers and fidelity,_

_And Gryffindor taught those,_

_Of courage and chivalry._

_Gryffindor took me off his head,_

_And gave me a mind,_

_So that when the founders were gone,_

_I could help pupils find their kind!_

McGonagall then called each of them up by name and placed the hat on their heads. "Avery, Thomas." "Slytherin!" "Bagman, Ludovic." "Hufflepuff!" "Black, Sirius." "Gryffindor!" Everyone was shocked at that. The Blacks were notorious for their pureblood fanaticism and were _always_ sorted into Slytherin. "Crouch, Barty Jr." "Hufflepuff!" "Evans, Lily." "Gryffindor!" "Grace, Eric." "Gryffindor!" "Jorkins, Bertha." "Ravenclaw!" "Lupin, Remus." At this, the teachers exchanged glances with each other, most of them worried about how safe it would be for Lupin to be at Hogwarts, although Horace Slughorn was quite curious. He would be, after all, the first student to be a werewolf while at Hogwarts. Too bad he could never join the Slug Club. "Gryffindor!" "Longbottom, Frank." "Ravenclaw!" "Lovegood, Xenophilius." "Ravenclaw!" "Macnair, Walden." "Gryffindor!" "Malfoy, Sarah." "Gryffindor!" Once again, everyone was shocked. Like the Blacks, the Malfoy family had been sorted into Slytherin ever since they arrived in England about two centuries earlier. Why was this girl put into Gryffindor? And why was she dressed in a boys uniform? "Pettigrew, Peter." "Gryffindor!" "Potter, James." "Gryffindor!" "Rickwood, Alan." "Ravenclaw!" "Smith, Alice." "Gryffindor!" "Snape, Severus" "Slytherin!" "Trelawney, Sybil." "Ravenclaw!" "Vector, Shannon." "Hufflepuff!" "Yaxley, Richard." "Ravenclaw!" And with that last name, the sorting ceremony ended. Dumbledore then gave the students a few rules, and warned about a newly planted Whomping Willow before allowing the opening feast to begin. While they were eating, Remus was quite pleased to hear that the golden silverware and dishes were brand new and before they had been silver. As a werewolf, he was quite vulnerable to silver, so the fact that the staff was willing to make such a drastic change made him feel quite welcome.

Within the first two weeks, the foursome had added two more friends to their group: Peter Pettigrew and Sarah Malfoy. It turned out that Sarah was as much of an outcast from her family as Sirius was from his, and that she did her best to do anything that would make her family upset, including not wearing a single stitch of traditional girl clothes. The group of six eventually became known as the Marauders for their great ability with pranks (although no one knew they were the Marauders until their fifth year.) James, Sirius and Sarah loved pulling pranks on Slytherins, especially Severus Snape, and the others would usually go along, but Eric often argued against pranking just one person in the house, unless they were bullies. But when Severus got pulled into a very blood-centric group and started attacking Eric whenever he was alone, he quickly changed his mind. There was the occasional Slytherin that avoided getting hit by the Marauder's pranks, the most common being Sirius' little brother Regulus.

By February of their First Year, the Marauders had discovered that Remus was hiding a secret, he wasn't actually a human. Remus Lupin was actually a werewolf, so the other Marauders decided to scare him into divulging his secret by secretly sending him a single message over and over: _Beware the Ides of March_. That was significant because the full moon fell on the Ides/15th of March that year. Eventually Remus gave in and told them about his lycanthropy, and to his surprise, the other five wanted to help him somehow. The Marauders eventually decided to become animagi, magicians that turned into animals. Over the next three years, when they weren't doing official schoolwork, practicing Quidditch, or planning/doing pranks, the five Marauders worked on becoming animagi. By their Fourth Year, they had all succeeded. James became a deer, gaining the nickname of Prongs, Sirius became a large black dog (one that was commonly mistaken as a Grim-an omen of death) that everyone called Padfoot. Eric became a dark unicorn and thus was able to keep the nickname of Spike, Peter became Wormtail the rat, and Sarah kept her nickname of Buck when she became a hippogriff. Once they'd succeeded, the five friends joined Remus (Moony) whenever the full moon hit and managed to keep his "furry little problem" under control, which allowed the werewolf to wander the grounds and the neighboring village of Hogsmeade even during the full moon.

But in their Fourth Year, the relationships of the Marauders started to change. James started pulling far more pranks that were targeted at Severus and even started hexing him. When the others asked why, James would just blush and run away. Moony and Buck quickly figured out why: James was jealous of Snape, or more accurately, Snape's relationship with the Muggle-born witch Lily Evans. Prongs had fallen for the young witch, but because of her friendship with Snape, she would never even think of dating him. And Prongs wasn't the only one that had fallen under Venus' spell. Spike and Buck had also fallen in love, but fortunately for them they had fallen for each other, meaning the biggest problem they had was the ribbing they got from their friends.

By their Sixth Year, Eric had officially proposed to Sarah, and she had accepted, much to her parents and older brother's dismay (her older brother being the already-graduated Lucius Malfoy.) As for James and Lily, they had officially started dating in that year after Snape did the worst thing he could have possibly done: he called Lily a Mudblood after they finished their DADA OWLs. After that, his and Lily's relationship was completely destroyed, and James managed to start a relationship with her, after explaining why the Marauders targeted the Slytherins, especially Snape, more often. Also in their Sixth Year, it was revealed that Sirius was being harshly treated by his parents, so he ran to the Potter's home, where Charlus and Dorea quickly blood-adopted him. But the bad news was just getting started for Sirius, as Regulus was forced to join a terrorist group known as the Death Eaters, under the command of the Dark Wizard, Lord Voldemort. The day he heard about it, Sirius got into a bad fight with his brother, and just as he was leaving, Snape caught him and started taunting him and asking questions about Remus. Sirius was so upset over losing Regulus that he turned and yelled "If you're so curious about Remus, why don't you go to the Shrieking Shack and find out yourself?"

"And just how do I do that, Black?"

"There's a knot at the base of the Whomping Willow. Hit that and go into the tunnel underneath the Willow, then you can get inside." Sirius' eyes widened as he realized his mistake and ran off to sulk in the dorm. James found him and asked what was wrong. When Sirius told him, James panicked, as that night was a full moon, and if Snape followed Sirius' instructions, then Snape could die. James ran full out for the Willow, just barely managing to save the Slytherin in time. James was quickly given a Service for the School Award by Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and told never to speak of it again.

By the end of their time at Hogwarts, most of the Marauders had joined Dumbledore's secret society, the Order of the Phoenix. The Order was specifically created for one purpose: the destruction of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. In addition to the Marauders, the members of the Order included: Minerva McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor House at Hogwarts, the famous Auror (Dark Wizard catcher) Alastor Moody, Frank Longbottom and his fiancée Alice Smith, the twin brothers Fabian and Gideon Prewett and several others. The only member of the Marauders to not join the Order was Eric Grace, who had decided to retreat to the Muggle world in order to avoid the war. The young Marauders and their friends thought of themselves as the kings and queens of promise, the ones destined to kill Voldemort. However, by 1988, the Order had suffered several losses, luckily they also had also had reason to celebrate, as all three couples got married. Then, a year after the weddings, all three couples had sons: Nico Grace was born on June 21, Neville Longbottom on July 30, and Harry James Potter on July 31.

It soon became clear, however, that there was at least one spy in the Order, as a friendly informant (one that signed his notes as RAB) just barely managed to warn them of a trap that nearly killed Moody and several others. With a spy in the Order, and Voldemort after the Potters and the Longbottoms, the two couples decided to go into hiding, with both couples going an extra mile and using the Fidelius Charm. Everyone expected the Potters to use Sirius as the Secret Keeper, especially considering how close he was to James, being best man at their wedding and godfather to their young son Harry. All that is, except for Eric Grace. Then, on November 1, 1990, magical England got the best news it had in eleven years: Lord Voldemort had been killed. But the surprising thing was, it wasn't an auror or a member of the Order that killed him, it was young Harry Potter. For reasons unknown to most of Wizarding England, Voldemort went to wipe out the Potter family, but when he tried to kill Harry, his curse turned on him, destroying him. The next night, Sirius Black was accused of killing Peter Pettigrew and a dozen Muggles when Peter confronted him about betraying James and Lily. The Marauders had become victims of themselves, betrayed by one of their own.

In the aftermath of that terrible, glorious night, Harry was sent to live with his only living relatives, Lily's sister Petunia, her husband Vernon Dursley, and their young son, Dudley. (This despite the objections of his godfather, Sirius.) Eric attempted to take Harry and raise him, but Dumbledore prevented it, saying that Eric unfortunately had no legal right taking him in. So, Eric decided to try and prove Sirius' innocence, especially after Bartemius Crouch threw him into Azkaban without a trial. As if to spite his detective skills, Eric was unable to find any evidence of Sirius' innocence, and so wrote down his suspicions in a letter to Nico, with the explicit instructions that it was not to be opened until his fourteenth birthday. A few weeks after Sirius was thrown into Azkaban, Eric heard that the Longbottoms had been tortured to insanity by a group of Death Eaters, including Barty Crouch Jr. and attempted to adopt Neville, but he was once again stopped by Dumbledore, who had already passed Neville to his paternal grandmother. After that, things were quiet in magical England for eleven years . . .


	2. Friends, Letters and Ithaka Rd

**A/N:** The descriptions of the qualities of the wood and core that Mr. Windlebeet gives, and Mr. Windlebeet himself belong to SeverusGirl360 and can be found in her story _Harry Potter Tutorial 1: Wands and Wand Cores_. Also, while I am an American, to keep this accurate, I'll be using metric measurements for everything, with American in (parentheses.)

**Altered Fates**

**Part One: The Philosopher's Stone**

**Chapter Two: Friends, Letters & Ithaka Rd**

Six years after the death of the Potters and the torture of the Longbottoms, the Grace family was living a quiet life. Eric had retired from the magical world and was working as a mortician in the city of Exeter. Sarah was still working at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but now as the head of the Improper Use of Magic Office. She flooed to work before Eric woke, and didn't return until after he went to sleep. As such, Eric was the one who raised their son, Nico, and that led to a small problem. Nico saw his father change back from his animagus form and immediately wanted to know how he did it. Eric never could refuse Nico anything, so he told him a half-truth and claimed that he was a shape shifter. (Eric was waiting to tell Nico about magic until he got his Hogwarts letter, as he wanted Nico to have the same reaction as he had when he first learned about magic.) Eric froze at Nico's response: Nico wanted to learn how to become an animal as well. Eric delayed as long as he could, but Nico refused to stop pestering him, and when stubborn, fiery-haired (and tempered) Nico wanted something, he could be extremely stubborn. Eventually he gave in and made a potion that would help Nico do it.

Two years later, Nico successfully transformed into a golden eagle, but changing so young had an unexpected on him, as his blue eyes now had flecks of gold in them and the more often he changed, the more his eyes changed color. After three months, his eyes were half gold and half blue, and he was constantly being teased at school about it. One day he was being chased by a group of bullies, and got cornered. He closed his eyes, fearful of the beating that he was sure to get, but he was shocked when, instead of being hit, a kind voice said "You can open your eyes now, they're gone." When Nico opened his eyes, he saw the most handsome boy he had ever seen. _I think I'm in love_. The somewhat familiar grey-eyed brunette offered his hand and pulled him up. "My name's Cedric Diggory, what's yours?"

Oh! No wonder Nico recognized him. Cedric Diggory was the most handsome, friendly, popular kid at their school, and two years ahead of Nico. "Nico, Nico Grace. Thanks for saving me."

"Me save you? I appreciate the sentiment, but I didn't save you. You did that all by yourself. That was the most impressive case of accidental magic I've ever seen!"

"Accidental magic? What are you talking about? Magic isn't real, it only exists in fantasy stories!"

Cedric laughed at that. "If you believe that, then I can't wait to see how you react to your Hogwarts letter! Although, I'll have to wait four years to see that. Hey, what would you say to coming home with me tomorrow? My dad can show you some real magic and you'll be able to get an idea as to what you'll learn there." Nico gladly agreed, with the condition that he let his father know. Eric quickly agreed, although he was shocked to learn that Nico had met another young wizard. By the end of his visit, Nico and Cedric had become extremely close friends.

On June 15, 1999, Cedric received his Hogwarts letter, and the first person he told after his father was Nico. (He would have gotten it the previous year, but Cedric's birthday was September 15, so he wasn't able to start at Hogwarts until that year because his birthday was after the term started.) Since Nico's first visit two years previously, the two boys had become extremely close, to the point that they considered each other brothers. In fact, while Cedric was visiting the Grace home, he asked Nico if he wanted to go with him to Diagon Alley. Eric was so shocked that he actually spat out what he was drinking. "What? You already know about our world?"

"Yeah, Cedric told me the first day that we met. Him and his dad have actually taught me quite a lot. He even revealed the truth about what we are."

"You told Cedric about Goldie?" Goldie was Nico's nickname for when he was in his animagus form.

"Of course he did, Mr. Grace. How else was he supposed to explain the fact that his eyes are half gold now? He also told me about Spike," Cedric said, grinning.

"HE WHAT?" Eric was in complete shock. While he hadn't told Nico the truth about where he went to school, he had told him about the Marauders. And he had tried to impress thought on Nico: the Marauders and all their secrets were supposed to be a secret only told to Marauder's kids.

"I suppose that this means I can't go with Cedric?" To both boys surprise, Eric said that Nico could go, but that Nico couldn't spill anymore Marauder secrets.

Amos took the boys to Diagon Alley about a month later, and both boys wished they had at least four more pairs of eyes in order to truly take in the sights of the magical street. They enjoyed their first trip inside Gringotts, the magic of Gambol & Japes' Joke Shop, the scents of the apothecary (somewhat,) and the magic of Ollivander's Wand Shop. Nico was a little disappointed with Ollivander, as his method of determining the right wand was nothing more than pure guesswork. Eventually, after trying nearly two dozen different wands, Cedric found his: a 31 cm (12 ¼ in) springy ash wand with a core of unicorn hair. On September 1, the two said goodbye as Cedric left for his first year at Hogwarts, but promised to keep in touch.

Over the next nine months, Cedric and Nico exchanged many letters, usually about the fun time Cedric was having in the Hufflepuff House, but hidden in those letters were notes preparing Nico for when he went to Hogwarts. Little things like the terror that was Potions Master, Professor Snape, difficult spells that he was learning, and a warning about the janitor Argus Filch and his cat, Mrs. Norris. Cedric even managed to make a friend in Slytherin, a Romulus White. The one thing that Cedric's letters didn't cover were the Potions lessons, at least, not after the first letter that warned Nico about Snape and three questions that he always asked his First Year students.

The reason for the lack of mention of Potions was made clear that summer. Cedric told his "little brother" that he had quickly realized that Snape was a terrible teacher and had decided that the two of them would learn the potions together over the summer. Thanks to their fathers, the duo managed to not only master the potions, but also figure out ways to make them better than the official instructions did, and writing the alterations in a journal.

On June 21, 2001 Nico got his first Hogwarts letter, and Alex offered to take both boys to a little-known place that he had heard was even better than Diagon Alley for getting magical supplies. Amos agreed, but he was surprised when he heard that Cedric would need to spend the night before with the Grace's in order to go. On the morning of June 30, Eric woke them an hour before dawn and told them to get ready to go. Both boys groaned, but managed to get ready in fifteen minutes. Once they were outside, Eric told them, "You're in for a real treat today, boys. The Knight Bus is easily the best way for us to travel, and above all, it's _fun!_ Now, where is that bus?" Eric stuck his wand out, obviously waiting for something.

Out of nowhere came a blue triple-decker bus, with a young man standing at the back door. He had clearly just graduated from Hogwarts and just as clearly had only recently started his job, because he was reading his greeting off a card. "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor for this evening." Cedric and Nico looked at each other in shock, sending the same thought to each other: _Is Eric crazy?_ But despite their misgivings, they got on the bus. The Knight Bus was easily the oddest bus they'd ever seen, with beds replacing the seats, and a shrunken head hanging from the rearview mirror. Once the three were settled, Stan knocked on the glass behind the driver and said, "Take it away, Ern."

"Yeah, take it away Ernie! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" To the boys shock, it was the shrunken head that had responded to Stan. Then the Knight Bus shot away like a rocket, sending the boys flying into the bed behind them. Ernie was, without a doubt, the most reckless driver they had ever seen, driving so fast that the other cars seemed to be nothing but blurs, not to mention driving on the wrong side of the road.

"Now, just where-abouts are you headed?"

"Calypso's in York," Eric responded. The boys were shocked at that. _York? _As far as either of them knew, there was nothing magical in York.

"Hey, won't the Muggles see us?" Cedric asked.

"Muggles? They don't see nothing, do they?"

Once again, the head spoke, saying "No, but if you jab them with a fork, they feel!" A few seconds later, the head cried out "Ernie! Little old lady at twelve o'clock!" Ernie just barely managed to stop the bus in time, throwing both boys into the glass. The head started counting down, "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, tree and a half, two, one and tree-quarters, YES!" And once again the bus shot forward, sending the boys back into the bed. Throughout this, both Eric and Stan had managed to not only stay standing, but also managed to have a conversation, almost as if they were completely used to the bus. They had just arrived at York when the head said "Ernie, two double-deckers at twelve o'clock." Ernie did nothing. "They're getting closer, Ern." Ernie still did nothing. "Ernie, they're right on top of us!" Finally, Ernie did something, somehow compressing the bus so that they would fit in-between the buses, with the head saying "Mind your head." As the bus compressed, everything got longer, and the head managed to joke, "Hey guys! Guys! Why the long faces?"

Not two minutes later, about an hour after dawn, there was another abrupt stop, again sending the boys into the glass, but this time the Knight Bus didn't manage to stop in time, bumping into a Muggle car and setting off the alarm. The three got off the bus and stepped into the inn, and then stepped through a passageway onto a long road. "Boys, welcome to Ithaka Road." In many ways, Ithaka Rd was very similar to Diagon Alley, but in others it was very different. There were fewer people there, fewer shops, more homes, and to Cedric's surprise, the prices were far cheaper than at Diagon Alley. Twelve Sickles for dragon liver (compared to the sixteen Sickles at Diagon) and two Knuts per scoop of beetle eyes (compared to five Knuts per scoop.) Also, the wandmaker that sold Cedric's wand, Ollivander, didn't have a shop on Ithaka Rd. The only wandshop there was Windlebeet's Better Wands & Cores Emporium. From the moment they stepped into the shop, Nico could _feel _the magic surrounding him, a magic that was as orderly and harmonious as the sheet music for his beloved violin.

Peter Tobias Windlebeet III was a fairly young man for a wizard, at only 53 years old, a Muggle would think him about twenty years younger than he actually was, and still a prime catch. He greeted them with a smile and said "Welcome to my shop, Nico! I've been expecting you for a while now."

"Uhm, you've been expecting me?"

"Yes, your father contacted me about six months ago and said that you'd be starting at Hogwarts this year. Now, let's get down to business." With that he pulled out a tape measure and started measuring different parts of Nico. "You don't need to tell me which arm is your wand arm, your father already told me you were left-handed. Let's see . . . carry the one . . . ah hah! A thirty-five and a half centimeter (14 in) wand should do you. Now, onto the wood." Windlebeet then pulled out a long box, which was quickly revealed to hold many different wands, each made of a different wood, and all were quite plain. "Ollivander is completely random with the wands he presents his customers in order to make it seem difficult, I think he likes it that way. But not my family, oh no. Here, we have an orderly process that is guaranteed to find you your wand in as little time as possible." With each sentence, Windlebeet had handed Nico a different wand, and pulled them back when they didn't react to him. "We start off by figuring out what length your wand should be, and then move on to the wood."

"But Mr. Windlebeet, how can you tell if it's the right wood? Doesn't the core affect the wand?"

"Normally you'd be right, Mr. Diggory. However, in order to reduce the possibility of choosing the wrong wood, each of these wands carry the same core: Unicorn hair, and all of them pulled from the same dying unicorn. That way there will be little magic left in the hairs. Ah, oak wood! Good, that's one more detail taken care of. It's a strong wood, usually known to wandmakers as Wizard Wood. It speaks of great things in store for you, Mr. Grace. Now, grab my hand and we can head to the appropriate part of my shop."

"Um, why do we need to grab your hand?"

"Because, Mr. Grace, we will be taking a portkey there. Now, Oak!" Nico and Cedric had heard of portkeys, and were prepared for a gut-wrenching feeling, but it didn't happen. One minute they were at the front desk, the next they were in the middle of a long corridor filled with shelves of wands, although they were slightly dizzy. "Ah, we're in luck, we landed exactly where we need to be: 35.5 cm oak wands. Now we just need to find the right core for you."

"Well, that shouldn't take long, right?"

"Longer than you might think Mr. Diggory. If I were like Ollivander, no, it wouldn't take long at all, considering he only stocks the three most common cores: unicorn hair, phoenix feather and dragon heartstring. My family, on the other hand, stocks every core ever used, and many combinations. I always start with the common cores, but it is rare that I actually sell one of those." While he was speaking, he had pulled out the three wands, but none reacted well. "Alright, let's try Acromantula web." A single, colorless spark came from the wand, which then blew out the nearby wall. "Definitely not, hmm, maybe my rarest core, Basilisk skin?" Another explosion, but that spark was larger. "Nope, but getting closer."

Cedric asked another question, "Why are those wands causing explosions?"

"Because they react too well with his character, Mr. Diggory. Each core means something. Acromantula web works well with those who are stubborn, fearless, mischievous, but also a strong desire for vengeance. Basilisk skin works well with Parselmouths that are strong-willed, determined, resilient, steadfast and unyielding. The ones with Basilisk cores are often able to overcome overwhelming odds, but are also usually Dark magicians. Maybe a Hydra bone would work?" Windlebeet handed him another wand, and it sent off nearly a thousand golden sparks, but it did little damage. "_Almost_ got it, but something's missing." He thought for a moment, and then inspiration hit him. "I wonder . . . it's an odd combination but maybe . . ." He pulled an elegantly carved wand with unusual designs down and handed it to Nico. He immediately knew that _this_ wand was his, it warmed his entire being, and shot out red and gold sparks like mad, but none did any damage. "Well, I wondered who would get that particular wand. I have had it in my possession for just over twelve years now, and I still don't know why I made that wand with that particular core. Most wandmakers would call me crazy for making it, and yet I knew I had to."

"What is the core for my wand, sir?"

"Hydra bone and Thestral hair, my boy. I will be watching your career with great interest, Mr. Grace. I'm looking forward to seeing how my wand works for you, and what you can accomplish with it." Nico blushed at that, and, once they had returned to the front desk, paid the requested five Galleons for the wand (compared to the seven Galleons that Cedric had paid.)


	3. Train Ride and the Sorting

**Altered Fates**

**Part One: The Philosopher's Stone**

**Chapter Three: Train Ride and the Sorting**

After their return from Ithaka Rd, Cedric taught Nico as much about the magical world as he could. Quidditch, Hogwarts, magical creatures, the laws they were expected to follow, the Ministry of Magic (where, according to Mr. Diggory, his mother worked as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Improper Use of Magic Office) and, of course, the four Hogwarts Houses. "Each House has it's good points and it's bad points. Slytherins get a lot of bad rep because they produce the most Dark magicians, but they can be quite friendly and are really cunning, and the Auror Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody was a Slytherin. Ravenclaw is usually known as the House of the Brainiacs, which is really good if you like learning, but sometimes they can focus _only_ on that, so they sometimes don't make the best friends. Gryffindors are really brave and adventurous, do great under pressure, and are great friends, but sometimes they are too daring and get into dangerous situations, while others are extremely arrogant or prejudiced. They also turn out the most pranksters of all the Houses. The Marauders were all Gryffindors, and then there's the Weasley twins in my year. Finally there's the Hufflepuff House, we're usually fair, honest, loyal, and hardworking-"

"That fits you like a glove!"

"Yeah, everyone says I'm the definition of Hufflepuff, but we have our bad apples as well. See, while the other three Houses all fit their descriptions, we get most of the spares as well, so we have a lot of duffers. Take for example someone who graduated about three years before your parents, Gilderoy Lockhart."

"Oh, I've heard of him. Isn't he the really famous author with all the alliterative titles?"

"Yeah, that's him. He's a great big fraud. Dad says that the only thing he was ever good at in school was memory charms so he probably never did any of those things." Of course, practical knowledge wasn't the only thing that the Diggorys taught him in that intervening month. They also taught him some of the wizarding world's favorite tales, usually by Beedle the Bard. Of all the tales they told him, none fascinated him more than the Tale of Three Brothers, the tale of the Deathly Hallows.

* * *

><p>On September 1, the two boys and their fathers flooed to King's Cross station and said goodbye. The 'brothers' split up as Cedric met with his friends from school and Nico was left in his own compartment. He was just putting his trunk away when he spotted a toad of all things. Figuring it belonged to someone, Nico looked around for a cage to hold it, but couldn't find anything, and the toad kept hopping away when he attempted to catch it. So, just to try it one more time, he attempted a spell that he had found in a Muggle fantasy book Cedric had given him for his birthday. "<em>Huildr<em>!" To his surprise, not only did his wand respond (for the first time,) but it also worked _perfectly. _When he went to grab the toad, it couldn't move making it extremely easy to catch. "Now now, you're going to stay here until your owner comes and finds you."

It wasn't until about thirty minutes later that a tall boy about Nico's age who had yet to lose his baby fat came in and asked if Nico had seen his toad. "You mean this little escape artist?"

"Trevor!" The boy grabbed the toad excitedly, like he was a friend who hadn't been seen in years. "Thank you so much! I thought I'd lost him."

"No problem. My name's Nico, Nico Grace."

"Neville Longbottom."

Nico gasped in shock at that. "Oh! So _you're_ Neville. My dad's told me a lot about you." Neville was about to ask about that when Trevor made another bid for freedom. Even with both boys working together, they only just barely managed to catch the toad before he escaped into the rest of the train. "I don't suppose you have a cage to keep him in, do you?"

"No, not really. I've got a terrarium, but it's too big to carry around, so my Gran shrunk it and put it in my trunk. Other than that, I don't have anything for him."

"Well, that's going to be something we're fixing as soon as possible." Then Nico asked about something Neville had said that confused him. "Wait a minute, what do you mean your _Gran_ shrunk it? What about your parents?"

Neville turned away at that. "I don't want to talk about that right now." They didn't speak to each other again until the trolley lady came up with snacks. After another couple of tense minutes, Neville eventually asked "So, how did you find out about being a wizard?"

Nico laughed at that. "That's actually a pretty funny story, because I should have figured it out _years_ before I actually did. My dad's an animagus, and I saw him change when I was six. But it wasn't until after I turned nine and my brother told me that I knew, and it wasn't until he took me to his home that I actually believed."

"What do you mean you didn't believe until your brother took you to his home?"

"Sorry, I just call my best friend, Cedric Diggory my brother. We've gotten so close over the past three years that we consider each other brothers. What about you? How did you know?"

"Well, for years my family thought I was a Squib . . ." When Neville saw his questioning look he explained. "Basically the reverse of a Muggle-born, a Muggle born to magical parents. Anyway, my Great Uncle Algie was always trying to catch me off guard, to scare some magic out of me. Once he pushed me off Blackpool pier, and I nearly drowned. It finally happened when I was eight though. He was hanging me out an upstairs window when Aunt Enid offered him a meringue. He completely forgot about me and let go, but then I bounced all the way down the garden to the road!"

"WHAT? They tried to _kill you_ just to see if you could use magic?"

Neville nodded while apparently trying to clean out his ears. "Would you mind shouting a bit louder? I don't think they heard you on the other side of the Channel."

Nico blushed at that. "Sorry, it's the redhead in me. There's a reason for the stereotype about redheads and their tempers. Everyone tells me I have an explosive temper and a voice to match it. But it sounds to me like they were more interested in knowing that you were a wizard than in your health." Nico quickly realized that this was another sore subject for the other boy and changed directions. "So, what subjects are you interested in?"

That was definitely a safe subject as Neville quickly started talking about his love of plants and his negligible cooking skills which made him doubt his potential at potions. That quickly led to negotiations about the two boys tutoring each other, as Nico had never even been within five miles of a garden. They quickly came to consider themselves friends and lost themselves in their conversation, so much so that they almost didn't notice Trevor's third escape attempt. The two boys stumbled over each other once they saw Trevor making a run for it and then had to chase him down the corridor.

Once they had caught Trevor, a bushy-haired girl came by and got after them for "behaving so childishly, racing up and down the corridor."

"Sorry about that, but we were trying to catch Neville's toad here. Besides, we _are_ kids, what do you expect from us?" Nico said. She huffed at that and stormed off.

"You know Nico, whatever house she's in, I hope we're not in it."

"I don't know Nev, she might actually make a good friend, if she lays off on the rules. I don't know why, but she strikes me as the kind of person who's smart and was teased for it, so she doesn't know how to make friends."

"Maybe. Hey, what's up with calling me 'Nev'?"

"It's a nickname. Don't you like it?"

"Actually, yeah. Could be worse. Some kids back home called me 'Hobbit' because of-"

"Tolkien's _The Lord of the Rings_ having an area of the Shire called Longbottom. I know, it's one of my favorite series." They would have kept talking, but the train was slowing down, so they quickly changed into their uniforms. Once they had left the train, they were gathered around a large number of boats by a giant of a man. Nico attempted to get into the same boat as Neville, but he had already got into a boat with the bushy-haired girl, another redheaded boy, and a small, dark-skinned, black haired boy. So he had to share a boat with two boys and a girl that he didn't know. The boys introduced themselves as Blaise Zabini and Justin Finch-Fletchley, while the girl said her name was Daphne Greengrass.

The four didn't have much time to talk though, as their first sight of Hogwarts caught their breath. It was an enormous castle perched right on the edge of a cliff looking over the loch. Every window was lit up, making it seem like Hogwarts was the only light in the area, a very good effect in Nico's mind. They landed at a set of docks and led into a boathouse, where the giant knocked on a door three times. The door opened to reveal a tall, black haired woman in a green cloak, someone that Nico instinctively knew was _not_ someone you would willingly cross unless you had a very good reason to. The giant, who was apparently named Hagrid, called her Professor McGonagall. McGonagall then led them up the stairs to the main part of the castle.

Once they were nearly at the top of the stairs, McGonagall stopped and turned to them and started a speech. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

This was the one thing about Hogwarts that the Diggorys and his father had _not_ warned Nico about: how the students were sorted. The other redhead said something about a test, while the bushy haired girl started talking about spells that she had learned. Nico doubted it would have anything to do about spells, if only for the Muggleborns that came without studying ahead. The test idea had some merit, but before he could think about it anymore, twenty ghosts came floating through the wall behind him, led by the Fat Friar and Sir Nicholas once again arguing about Peeves the Poltergeist. Nico greeted the two ghosts like they were old friends, much to their surprise and delight. After both ghosts offered their good wishes, McGonagall returned and led them to the Great Hall. To Nico's shock, in the open area between the teacher's table and the four house tables stood a three-legged stool with an ancient hat sitting on it. Just as everyone was wondering what they had to do with it, a rip opened up and the Hat started to sing:

_"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see, _

_I'll eat myself if you can find _

_A smarter hat than me. _

_You can keep your bowlers black, _

_Your top hats sleek and tall, _

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat _

_And I can cap them all. _

_There's nothing hidden in your head _

_The Sorting Hat can't see, _

_So try me on and I will tell you _

_Where you ought to be. _

_You might belong in Gryffindor, _

_Where dwell the brave at heart, _

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry _

_Set Gryffindors apart; _

_You might belong in Hufflepuff, _

_Where they are just and loyal, _

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true _

_And unafraid of toil; _

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, _

_if you've a ready mind, _

_Where those of wit and learning, _

_Will always find their kind; _

_Or perhaps in Slytherin _

_You'll make your real friends, _

_Those cunning folk use any means _

_To achieve their ends. _

_So put me on! Don't be afraid! _

_And don't get in a flap! _

_You're in safe hands (though I have none) _

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

Nico felt like strangling Cedric the next time he saw him alone. How could he have not warned him about the stupid Hat! But there was nothing he could do now, so he just waited and watched the Sorting. Justin was the first person he knew to be Sorted, and he went to Hufflepuff. He didn't recognize any other names, until McGonagall finally called out "Grace, Nico!"

Nico quickly stepped up to the stool and put on the Hat. Then the Hat started to talk to him inside his head. _"Hmm, this is difficult. You could fit in any of the Houses, except for a few small problems. Oh ho! An animagus already, and so young. So, you're smart enough for Ravenclaw, with their thirst for knowledge, but your heart outweighs your head. You would also work well in Slytherin, ambitious and cunning, but far too trusting. Honest and hard-working like Hufflepuff, but too daring. So, better be . . . _GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table started cheering for him, while Cedric caught his eye and nodded encouragingly. The next name wasn't someone he recognized, but the person was. "Granger, Hermione" turned out to be the bushy haired girl from the train and became another Gryffindor. Then Neville came and his sorting took quite a while.

Once McGonagall put the Sorting Hat on Neville's head, it immediately started talking to him. _"So, you're Neville Longbottom. I'm sorry about your parents, they showed great promise."_

_"You know about my parents?"_

_"Of course. Former Headmaster Dilys Derwent has a portrait there, and she immediately told us what had happened. If you want, I can tell you many stories about your parents."_

_"Thanks, hat, but where would I find you?"_

_"The name's Alistair, and I stay in the Headmaster's chambers unless I'm needed for the Sorting. Now, to get back to business. Hmm, a good mind and very loyal. What's this? Oh my, I haven't seen that gift in sixty years! It may be blocked, but it's still there."_

_"What gift? What are you talking about?"_

_"An extremely rare gift, but don't listen to rumours. You are the first in your family to have that particular gift. But there's something else here . . . my oh my, courage in abundance! And one other thing. Mr Longbottom, the definition of courage is the act despite your fear. What do you call it when there is no fear?"_

"_I don't know. Why?"_

"_Well, you're going to have to tell me one of these days, as you are going to be using both in the Lion House."_

"_No, put me in Hufflepuff."_

"_But you belong in Gryffindor!"_

"_No, my Gran is constantly telling me I'm a Hufflepuff."_

"_And I say you're a Gryffindor!"_

"_Hufflepuff!"_

"_Gryffindor!"_

"_Hufflepuff!"_

"_Gryffindor!"_

"_Hufflepuff!"_

"_Hufflepuff!"_

"_Gryffindor!"_

"_Glad you see it my way. _Gryffindor!"

Neville blinked in shock several times before taking Alistair off and glaring at him. "You sir, are a sneaky snake of a hat."

"Glad to be of service, Mr Longbottom. And what did you expect considering the Founders all put some of their personality into me?" Neville just shook his head and walked off to join Nico.

"What was that about, Nev?"

"That hat tricked me into Gryffindor!"

"Yeah, well, the hat knows best, Nev. If it thinks you belong in Gryffindor, then you belong in Gryffindor."

After Neville came a name that Nico recognized but had never met: Draco Malfoy who was sorted into Slytherin before the Hat even touched a single hair on his head. Theodore Nott was also quickly sorted into the House of Snakes. Then came another person, someone that Nico recognized by both sight and name: Harry Potter. However, Nico didn't recognize Harry for the same reason as his classmates, he recognized him all the same because of the distinctive messy black hair and glasses. Those two together instantly reminded him of pictures his dad had shown him of James 'Prongs' Potter. After about a minute, Harry was sorted into Gryffindor followed closely by the redhead-a Ron Weasley who also got into Gryffindor, while Blaise was sorted into Slytherin.

Once the Sorting was finished and Professor Dumbledore had greeted them with a few odd words, a magnificent feast began and people started getting to know their new housemates. Nico struck up a fast friendship with Harry, especially when he told him that Eric had known James (and he didn't ask to see the scar.) Ron mentioned the fact that Sir Nicholas was also known as 'Nearly Headless Nick' and Hermione asked how that was possible. Nico smiled as Nick acted like he hated how the conversation was going, but he knew that for the most part, Nick loved the fact that he was famous for being 'Nearly Headless Nick.' The only thing the ghost hated about it was the fact that he couldn't get into the Headless Hunt, a ghost club exclusively for the beheaded.

After they finished dessert, Dumbledore had a few announcements. "First years should note that the Dark Forest is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." When he said that, he was looking straight at the Weasley twins at that. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." Nico stared at him in shock. It was almost as if Dumbledore was _begging_ his more curious students (such as himself and probably Harry) to go to the corridor just to find out why it was off limits! But before he could start thinking about the mystery, Dumbledore cried out "And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he were trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words. But everyone froze when Nico reached inside his robes and pulled out a violin. He played a few quick test notes before noticing the rest of the school staring at him. "Well Headmaster, are we singing or not?" Dumbledore shrugged and started revealing the words again. And as Nico started playing a quick ditty, the rest of the school sang out the song, quickly matching the lyrics to Nico's tune. All, that is, except for the twins Fred and George Weasley, who stuck with a funeral march.

After the song, one of the Gryff prefects, Percy Weasley led them up to the dormitory. They were slightly delayed by Peeves the poltergeist (who reminded Nico very much of the cartoon Mxyzptlk) and had started throwing sticks at them. Nico immediately decided that he was going to get on _very_ good terms with the poltergeist, as he had plans to continue his father's legacy at the school, and who better to aid him than a poltergeist? He easily fell asleep that night, already making plans on things to do to live up to the legacy of the Marauders.

**A/N:** The idea that Moody was a Slytherin comes from HarryPotterNut94's story _Hogwartians read the Philosopher's Stone. _The tune that Nico plays during the Hogwarts song is called _Two Hornpipes_, made famous as the ditty played during the Tortuga bar fight in _Pirates of the Caribbean: The Dead Man's Chest. _**READ AND REVIEW!**


	4. First Weeks & the Corridor

**Altered Fates**

**Part One: The Philosopher's Stone**

**Chapter Four: First Weeks and the Corridor**

Harry _hated_ the way he was treated by his fellow students, and Nico knew it. He was now very grateful that he was able to recognize Harry because of his father's stories instead of the scar. Fortunately the whispers slowly died over their first week, during which they had their first lessons at Hogwarts. Most of the kids got lost during that first week, but not Nico or Neville. Using his father's gift of the Marauder's Map, Nico and Neville were always the first ones of their years to classes.

Wednesday Astronomy classes with Professor Sinistra were fun, if tiring considering they were at midnight and lasted an hour. Herbology with Hufflepuff's Head of House Sprout was intriguing, but as he had suspected, Nico desperately needed Neville's help with it. History of Magic was a class that several people, mostly the Muggle-borns or -raised, had looked forward to. However it was easily the most boring class ever taught (even though, or maybe because it was taught by a ghost) and made Nico extremely glad that he bought a few Quick Quotes quills. Flitwick's Charms classes were fun and interesting, while McGonagall's Transfiguration classes were difficult in some ways. Nico wondered how she'd take it if she ever learned that she wasn't the only animagus in the class. Quirrell's Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were a joke, all he ever did was talk about his stupid iguana. Everyone quickly learned that they were better off learning from their books than their lectures.

Then on Friday, they got the class that in some ways Nico had looked forward to the most: Potions, one of only two classes that he wouldn't be at a disadvantage because of his stubborn oak wand. It took at least five tries before he got any reaction from his wand when learning a new spell, and it usually took twelve. The only thing he was worried about was Severus Snape. When Snape took roll, he paused at Harry's name, calling him "our new celebrity." Nico knew that he was referring to a Third Year Slytherin named Romulus White. Romulus, a friend of Cedric's, was famous as being one of the few people, if not the only person, to escape the werewolf Fenrir Greyback without so much as a scratch. Due to his fortunate escape, Romulus had taken on a policy of living every day to the fullest and never holding grudges because he had learned how precious life was, and was determined to make others see that as well.

After roll, Snape began his opening speech. "There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. However, for those select few who possess the predisposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death." He paused his speech and looked directly at Harry, who was clearly taking notes on the speech. "Then again maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention!"

Nico had expected that speech, and was also prepared for Snape's typical three opening questions, but Snape asked Harry all three of them, much to his and Hermione's disappointment. Naturally, Harry didn't know the answer to any of them, and when he mentioned that Hermione knew (she'd had her hand up the whole time,) Snape deducted five points. When the theory hour of Potions ended and they started on the practical hour, Nico and Neville immediately paired up. Nico could instantly see that it was a good thing that he was paired with Neville, as it was obvious that Snape _terrified _the other boy, and without Nico and his potions journals, Neville probably would have destroyed his potion. As it was, even with Nico there, he almost did when he attempted to put the porcupine quills in early. Nico just barely managed to prevent the disaster, and the rest of Potions passed in relative peace.

While he was on the way back to the Common Room, Nico noticed that Harry and Ron had not joined them, so he sneaked off to another portion of the castle and opened his Marauder's Map, a slightly more complex version of the one that the Marauders had purposely let Filch find. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Immediately the parchment revealed itself as a 3D map of the castle and the grounds, with everyone labeled where they were. "Show me Harry Potter and Ron Weasley." The pair of names started glowing in red and gold on their way to Hagrid's hut. Curious, Nico changed form to Goldie and flew after them. While there, Harry mentioned that the infamous Gringotts break-in had happened on the same day that he and Hagrid were there. Did Harry have something to do with it? Was it possible that he knew what was nearly stolen?

Nico didn't have time to ponder the mystery as the next Tuesday they had their first flying lesson, with the Slytherins. While Nico looked forward to reuniting with Blaise and Ted, he also knew that he'd have to deal with bloody Malfoy and his goons. It was made worse by the fact that he knew Neville was positively terrified of flying, and with good reason. From what he'd heard about the Longbottoms, Neville had inherited his father's clumsiness. The morning of the flying lesson, it also became apparent that he had inherited his mother's memory, as Neville's grandmother had sent him a Remembrall. "You know, they really should try and make a newer version of that, considering how useless they are."

"Useless? What do you mean?"

"Simple, Harry. While they tell you that you've forgotten something, they don't tell you _what_ you've forgotten. If they could modify them so that they'd do that, then Remembrall's would be worth something. But right now, they're just a waste of money." Draco came over and attempted to steal the Remembrall, but fortunately McGonagall came over and stopped him.

That afternoon during the flying lesson, Nico was pleasantly surprised when his broom jumped into his hand after only two attempts. Maybe flying wouldn't be so bad after all. He then went over to Neville and talked him through the first part of the lesson until he managed to get the broom to fly into his hand. Unfortunately confidence in making the broom fly did not translate into confidence while flying and Neville accidently took off just after Madame Hooch blew her whistle. Realizing that his friend was most definitely _not_ in control of his broom, (especially considering it was bucking and flying into the castle,) Nico took off after him and pulled him off the statue where he got caught. Unfortunately Nico's broom was too old to handle the weight of both boys and broke, sending the two to the ground. Madame Hooch had to take both boys to the Hospital wing when she realized that Neville had a broken wrist and Nico had broken his femur in his attempt to help his friend. The time in the hospital allowed the boys to not only take care of their homework but also become even closer friends.

By the time the two remembered to go back to their dorms, it was nearly midnight and neither of them could remember the password. "It's times like this that I wish we were Ravenclaws."

"Why's that?"

"Because according to Dad, their dorm doesn't have a password, it's guardian asks riddles, making it a lot easier to access." Just then the Bloody Baron came by and got after them for being out of their dorms so late. Nico pulled out a journal he kept in his right breast pocket and looked inside it. After hearing his father's tales about the ghosts of Hogwarts, he had made it his personal mission to find out how all of them died. So far he'd only gotten the Friar (died in his sleep) and Nick (nearly beheaded for treason against Cromwell.) "Excuse me, but would you mind telling me how you died?"

"If you want to know how I died, ask the Grey Lady. I refuse to talk about it." The Baron then scowled and floated off. Thirty minutes later, Ron, Harry and Hermione came out of the dorm, heading somewhere and they revealed that the Fat Lady had left her portrait. "She's probably gone to visit Violet. You know, if I didn't know better, I'd swear that they were lovers." Ron laughed at that and then explained that they were heading to a duel with Draco. "Are you sure that he'll show up? How do you know he isn't just setting you up to try and get you expelled?"

"How would you know?"

"It's what I would do if I were him, and it is definitely something a Slytherin would do. My guess is that he's warned Filch that you're going to be wherever this duel is supposed to take place at." A few minutes later, we arrived at the trophy room, and sure enough Filch arrived about twenty minutes after the duel was scheduled. So they did what any other twelve year old kids would do in that situation, they panicked and ran. The five quickly encountered Peeves in the Charms classroom, and Ron quickly got irritated with him, and Nico quickly realized his intentions. "Ron, don't!" But it was too late, he made one of the unforgivable mistakes at Hogwarts: he tried to punch Peeves. As Nico expected, Peeves immediately shouted out that they were out of bed and they ran again, and the only place they could find to hide was a locked door that Hermione opened with a basic Alohomora. While the other three were worried about Filch and Peeves, Nico and Neville were staring at what the door was keeping in: a massive three-headed dog that was guarding a trapdoor. "Harry."

"Not now, Nico."

"Harry."

"I said not now!"

"Harry!"

"WHAT?" Then Harry turned around and saw the cerberus. Making a choice between death at the mouths of the cerberus or detention with Filch, he wisely chose Filch and the five ran from the corridor and back to Gryffindor Tower. Luckily the Fat Lady had returned and let them in as soon as Harry said the password.

Once they'd caught their breath, Nico said "Did you guys see what it was standing on?"

"Um, the floor? I was a little busy with it's heads to see what it was standing on."

"Well yeah, the floor. But it was also standing on a trap door. That dog is guarding something."

"How did you even notice that?"

"Easy, Harry. First rule of battle strategy is Always Mind Your Surroundings. Now the only question is what is that dog guarding?"

"I hope you have fun with that. Now, if you four don't mind I'm going to bed before any of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse, expelled!" All four boys stared after Hermione, disbelieving shock clear on their faces.

Neville stated their opinion best. "That girl needs to sort out her priorities."

**A/N:** Romulus White is from MissCHSparkles series "Hogwarts Reads" the HP books. She has finished Philosopher's Stone and is working on Chamber of Secrets.


	5. Pranks, a Troll, Quidditch & Christmas

**Altered Fates**

**Part One: The Philosopher's Stone**

**Chapter Five: Pranks, A Troll, Quidditch, and Christmas**

Over the next two months, things were fairly silent on the mystery front, and homework was easy working with Neville, so Nico turned to the one part of his life that he had neglected so far: pranking. After getting a little advice from the Weasley twins, Nico hit his first targets: Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy. Using the Marauder's Map, Nico hit the two of them while they were still asleep. When they woke up, they found themselves with Gryffindor hair: red and gold. Whenever they tried to wash it out, it just got brighter and brighter. The next day, it changed to Ravenclaw's blue and bronze. The third day it was Hufflepuff's yellow and black. Then for the next week, it was hot pink. Everybody, even the majority of the Slytherins laughed at their hair when it turned pink. To everybody's surprise though, Ron Weasley scowled at it while Draco laughed at himself. On the Hufflepuff day of the prank, Harry had a Nimbus 2010 broom sent to him by Professor McGonagall, as he had managed to earn a place on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Malfoy attempted to get him in trouble for it, but all the teachers knew about the 'special circumstances.' Apparently he had earned the Seeker position after Nico and Neville had been sent to the hospital by catching Neville's Remembrall his first time on a broom. (That was odd, because Nico was sure that first, Madame Hooch had said that anyone flying without her would be expelled, and second, Eric had always praised James Potter's skill as a Chaser.)

A week after the end of the hair prank, he pulled an _enormous_ one on the entire Slytherin House, first by creating a fountain just over the door to their common room that would only activate when they opened the door, therefore dousing them in freezing cold water. Then when they arrived for lunch, they found their seats covered in Stinksap, forcing everyone to eat standing up. Finally, at dinner, they found an enormous red-eyed King Cobra guarding their table and not allowing anyone to get near it. It wasn't until Romulus dared to get close to it that they realized it was nothing more than an illusion, and once again everyone enjoyed it, except for the blood purists. Once again, Draco had joined in the laughter at the prank. Well, there _was_ one other person who didn't appreciate the pranks. McGonagall hated them, but she could never figure out who did them, as she expected the Weasley twins and they honestly had no idea who did the pranks.

The next major event started in Charms class, where they were learning the levitation charm. As Nico had discovered that he needed to study about a week ahead in order to keep up with his classmates, he managed it quite easily. (Unlike Seamus, who was quickly gaining a reputation as a pyrotechnic.) Hermione was keeping up a slightly annoying practice of hers, she had started lecturing her partner, in this case, Ron Weasley. Then Ron did something he shouldn't have done: he challenged her to do the charm herself, which she managed to do, naturally. The closest anyone else managed was Seamus Finnigan who managed to burn his up (as was usual for her.)

After the class, Ron started mocking Hermione and called her a nightmare. "No wonder she hasn't got any friends." Unfortunately, Hermione had been right behind him and heard everything.

"Great job, Weasley. You know, if you had just _told her_ what she was doing to make you upset, she might have laid up on you! Besides, you challenged her to do it, so it's your own bloody fault that she showed you up!" Nico had always hated bullies, but ever since he realized he was a wizard, he'd gone out of his way to fight them. Too bad the teachers were so strict about the 'no fighting' rule. But then again, Eric had always taught him two things about rules. First was 'Rules are meant to be broken,' and the other was 'It's only illegal _if_ you get caught.' So, he just had to figure out a way to fight Ron without getting caught.

Nico tried thinking about that throughout the Halloween feast, until Professor Quirrell showed up yelling, "Troll! In the dungeon! Troll in the dungeon! Thought you ought to know." He then promptly fainted, causing all the students to go into a panic. Nico was the only one to stay calm, and immediately took advantage of the panic to change into Goldie and started flying around, looking for Hermione and the troll. He quickly found Hermione in the second floor girls bathroom, crying. Not three minutes later, Nico found the troll, headed straight for the bathroom.

He went to find Harry, but instead found Quirrell heading for the third floor. Nico filed that away for future reference and quickly found Ron and Harry wandering around. He managed to get their attention before leading them to the bathroom Hermione was in. They immediately realized that the troll was in there, and then attempted to lock the door! Well, that would never do, so Nico grabbed the key out of Harry's hand and flew off with it, buying enough time for them to realize that Hermione was in there. The two human boys started throwing things at the troll in order to buy Hermione time to escape, while Nico dived at it, attempting to pluck out its eyes. Then Harry did something incredibly insane, he ran at the troll and, using it's club, leapt onto its back trying to control it like his broom. All it accomplished though was getting his wand stuck up the troll's nose. Eventually the troll grabbed him and attempted to smash him with its club. "Do something!" Harry yelled as the troll took a swing at him.

"What?"

"Anything!" Harry said as he once again just barely managed to avoid being squashed by the club. Under Hermione's guidance, Ron managed to pull off the levitation charm on the troll's club and use it against its master.

"Is it . . . dead?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think so. Just knocked out," Harry replied. He then turned to Nico. "Thanks a lot for your help." Goldie just trilled happily, glad to see that they had managed to defeat the troll and save Mione without getting hurt in the process. The teachers found them not long after, and Mione spun a tale of her own foolishness, claiming that she had thought that she could take on the troll, and that the three boys (or rather, two boys and one eagle) had saved her life. That resulted in a loss of five points from Gryffindor on Mione's part and five points to each of the boys. When they checked the points the next day, everyone was surprised to see that the Gryffs had gained not five, but _ten_ points because of the previous night. Only Nico was able to figure out that the school had somehow realized he was there and awarded him the same number of points as Harry and Ron. Fortunately, that incident ended most of the arguments between Harry and Mione, while Ron's arguments with Mione became more frequent but less aggravating, and so was formed the team that for two and a half years was known as the Golden Trio.

* * *

><p>Nico kept his pranking to a minimum after that, so the next major thing (other than a few attacks on Snape, Filch and Mrs. Norris) was the beginning of the Quidditch season. Quidditch was an extremely interesting game to watch. Fast-paced, dangerous and best of all, the game could go on for literally months before it ended, as the ending all depended on a Seeker catching the Golden Snitch, a tiny little ball with wings no bigger than a golf ball. The first game started off well enough, despite the fact that it was a Snakes vs. Lions game. (Although the signs definitely pointed to it being a memorable game, for two reasons. First was the fact that Harry was going to be playing, and second, Professor Snape actually told Harry "Good luck today, Potter." Extremely odd, as Snape was head of Slytherin House, Harry's competition.) Then, about twenty minutes into the game, it started becoming interesting as Harry's broom started going nuts. Immediately, Nico started scanning the crowd, looking for people that could be jinxing the Nimbus. His eyes caught onto two people, Professors Quirrell and Snape. "Mione, listen. I think I know who's jinxing Harry, but I'm not sure. Set Snape's robes on fire, but make sure to bump into Quirrell as well, okay?" Mione agreed, and managed to take care of both of them, although Snape only noticed about forty-five seconds after his broom caught fire. Luckily, Harry still managed to catch the Snitch, despite the jinx, and he did it in a most unusual way-by catching it in his mouth of all places!<p>

When the four mentioned it to Hagrid, he denied that it was even possible and that whatever Fluffy (the cerberus that he'd won off a Greek guy down in the village) was guarding was between Dumbledore and a guy named Nicolas Flamel. "Nicolas Flamel? Who's Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked. Hagrid immediately realized his mistake and walked off muttering "I should not have said that."

When Harry repeated his question to his friends, Nico replied "I'm not sure, but I know I've heard that name before."

* * *

><p>Between official schoolwork and trying to find Flamel, Christmas faster than anyone could believe. All that work left Nico with time enough for only one leisure activity: playing chess with Harry. But he didn't play to <em>beat<em> Harry, he played to _teach_ Harry how to win chess. As for Christmas in the Gryffindor Tower, only the Weasleys and Harry planned on staying at school, or at least, it was that way before Nico received a letter from his father.

_My dear son,_

_I know you were looking forward to having another of our amazing Christmases at home, but I think you would prefer it if you stayed at Hogwarts this year. I think you'll find a bit of a surprise waiting for you when you head down to the Great Hall on Christmas morning. Sorry, but no hints!_

_Love, Dad_

When Christmas finally came, Nico jumped out of bed and started opening his presents. He found a new chess set from Ron (odd, because he honestly didn't think of Ron as a friend,) two large boxes of Chocolate Frogs from Mione and Harry, the extended edition of _The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_, and an old leather-bound copy of _Tales of Beedle the Bard_ from his dad. Just as he finished opening _Beedle the Bard_, he heard Ron gasp at something Harry got. "I've heard of those. If that's what I think it is, they're really rare and _really_ valuable."

Nico turned to see what all the fuss was about, and froze at the sight of what Harry was holding. "Harry, do you mind if I take a look at that cloak?"

"No, go ahead."

Nico took the cloak and started scanning the inside of the cloak, looking for one of two things. Finally, he found it. Just barely visible against the dark cloth, was the symbol he had been looking for. The symbol that many described as a 'triangular eye crossed with a vertical line,' one that Grindelwald had taken as his own, the ancient symbol of the Deathly Hallows. "Thanks, Harry. I really appreciate it."

"No problem, but why did you just want to look at it?"

"I was just trying to figure something out. Luckily I did. Be careful with that cloak, Harry. There's a lot of people that would want to steal that cloak if they knew you had it." The three of them went downstairs and found a red-headed surprise waiting for them: Eric Grace was waving at them from the Gryffindor table. Nico leapt into his father's arms, saying "Dad? Why the bloody hell didn't you say you were coming here?"

"I wanted to surprise you, why else?" he said, laughing. "Seriously though, I'm here because Dumbledore asked me to look into something."

"What is it, Dad?"

"Something has been attacking the unicorns in the Dark Forest since the beginning of term. Hagrid hasn't had any luck, so Dumbledore asked me to help out. I'm going to be here until that thing is caught. But until then, let's have some fun!" That Christmas was easily the most fun any of them had ever had, and it was made even better with the presence of Fred and George Weasley (or, to use their new nicknames, Gred and Forge.)

Eric spent the rest of the day with the five boys before heading to his 'special job.' That night, Nico felt something brush past him while he was reading _Beedle the Bard_, yet he saw nothing. Curious to see what Harry would do his first night with Death's Cloak, Nico pulled out his Map and watched Harry's progress. To his great surprise, Harry went straight to the library's Restricted Section, but something happened to cause Filch to head for Harry. But as he ran from Filch, Harry nearly walked into Mrs. Norris and then Snape and Quirrell. Fortunately he managed to avoid all four by hiding in an empty classroom. Curiously, Harry stayed there for a good two or three hours before finally returning to the dorm.

Determined to find out why, Nico transformed into Goldie and flew down to the room that he had seen Harry enter. Inside the room, he found nothing more than an old, dusty classroom that probably hadn't been used since the 40's. There was only one oddity about the room, an old, full-length mirror that could probably accommodate even someone of Hagrid's height. The top of the mirror had an inscription that read: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_. It took a couple of minutes, but Nico eventually figured out that it actually read _I show not your face but your heart's desire._ Curious, Nico walked closer to the Mirror of Erised, but even when he was a mere 10 cm (4 in) from the mirror and had stayed there for ten minutes, it showed him _nothing_. "Hmm, this thing's magic must not be working anymore. Damn, and I was so hoping to see what my heart's desire was." Unlike Professor Dumbledore, Nico believed that, if used cautiously, the Mirror of Erised was very useful, as it could show you what would tempt you the most. As he saw nothing, Nico then changed back and flew back to the dorm. He didn't see the mirror again for about six months.


	6. Norbert and the Dark Forest

**Altered Fates**

**Part One: The Philosopher's Stone**

**Chapter Six: Norbert and the Dark Forest**

About two weeks after Christmas, everyone returned for the start of second term. Neville said that he had spent Christmas with his parents, which struck Nico as a little odd. "But Nev, I thought you lived with your Gran? Why would you live with her if your parents are alive?"

"Please, Nico. I don't want to talk about my parents." Nico got the hint. Unless Neville started talking about them, the previous generation of Longbottoms was completely off limits.

A few months later, the day before the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff game, Nico had just put the finishing touches on a prank against Mrs. Norris when he found Neville hopping around like his legs were tied together. "Hey, Neville! What's going on?"

"Malfoy. He found me outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to try out the Leg-locker curse on."

"Damn him. Well, let's see if any of my counter-curses will work. Finite incantantum." Nico's wand lit up, but nothing happened, so he tried again, with the same results. "Alright, losna." Again, nothing happened. "Bloody hell. Sometimes, I really hate having an oak wand. Ma'mor!" Still nothing. "Well, since I am apparently no good with this, I guess the best we can do is get you up to Mione. At least we know _she'll_ be able to free you." When they arrived at the common room, Mione released Neville and then got after Nico for not releasing him himself. "Is it my fault that my wand is notoriously hard to use when learning new spells? I _tried_ to release him, but I couldn't! Stop jumping to conclusions, Granger!"

While Nico had been yelling at Mione, Ron was making things worse by getting after Neville for not standing up for himself and refusing to tell McGonagall about Malfoy. "There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor. Malfoy's already done that."

Then Harry spoke up for Neville while giving him a Chocolate Frog. "You're worth twelve of Malfoy. The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

Nico heard what Harry said, and surprised everyone by saying "You're wrong, Harry. Neville's not worth twelve of Malfoy." Everyone was staring in shock at the boy. All except Neville, who was staring at him with tears in his eyes. Nico was supposed to be his best friend, and he was siding with Malfoy? "You're not worth twelve of Malfoy, Neville. Harry seriously _under_valued you. To me, you're worth a googolplex of Malfoys." Mione whistled in appreciation, while everyone else just stared with a questioning look. Understanding what the unasked question was, Nico explained. "I first heard of a googolplex in a movie called _Back to the Future Part III_. I was so curious about it that I looked it up. Basically, a googolplex is the closest number you can get to infinity."

Harry was intrigued so he asked, "How big is it?"

"It's 10 billion times itself one hundred times. It's so big a number that even writing it at a microscopic scale, the number would take up more space than the universe is believed to hold. _That's_ how valuable I think you are Nev."

That cheered Neville up quite a bit, and in thanks, he offered the Chocolate Frog card to Harry and Nico. Harry took it and said "Dumbledore again. He was the first one I ever-" Then he gasped and froze, staring at the card. "I've found him!" he whispered. "I've found Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here — listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!"

"Bloody hell, no wonder I recognized his name!" Hermione went to grab a book, but Nico stopped her. "You don't need to go and get whatever book you're going for, Mione. Alchemy gives us all the information I need to know about what Fluffy's guarding. Alchemists were obsessed with creating one thing: the Philosopher's Stone. A Philosopher's Stone is capable of doing two things, first is turning base metals to gold, the other is producing a liquid known as the Elixir of Life. So long as you drink it, you cannot die of old age. For example: Nicolas Flamel celebrated his 672 birthday just a few months ago and his wife is about ten years older."

"Bloody hell, no wonder Snape wants it! Anybody would want something that can do that!"

"Snape? What are you talking about, Weasley?"

"The boys are convinced that Professor Snape is the one trying to steal the Stone. We're pretty sure that he tried to kill Harry in the last Quidditch match and on Halloween, they saw him heading for the corridor when the other teachers were heading to take on the troll."

"And what about Quirrell? I've seen him heading to the corridor twice this year so far. Then there's the fact that he was also at the first match and never broke eye contact with Harry. As for Halloween, why was Quirrell even in the dungeons? Right now, I think both of them are good suspects for the intended thief." The Golden Trio had to accept that Nico had some good points and decided to keep their accusations against Snape quiet until they had some more proof. The only one who still believed that it could only be Snape was Ron Weasley.

At the next Quidditch match, Malfoy showed up right behind the four friends and as usual started insulting them. First he claimed that the only people allowed on the Gryffindor team was people they felt sorry for: Harry with no parents and the Weasley twins with no money, and then he said that Neville should be on it because he "had no brains." When Neville stood up for himself, Malfoy claimed that if brains were gold, then he'd be poorer than the Weasley's. That did it for Nico. He whipped out his left hand so it was pointing directly at Malfoy. To everyone's surprise, his wand had appeared in his hand. "Tell me, Malfoy. Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a magician back in the fifteenth century or so? Have you ever wondered what it was like to be burned at the stake? Because unless you _shut up right now_, you're going to find out."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Oh, wouldn't I? Try me, Malfoy. Go ahead and say just one more thing about us and you'll see if I'm bluffing." Unfortunately, Malfoy decided to do just that when Harry went into a steep dive, claiming that he had seen some money for the Weasley's. But before Nico could follow through on his threat, Ron jumped Malfoy and started fighting him, Neville hesitated a second and then joined in, taking on Malfoy's henchmen Crabbe and Goyle. Nico just sighed, claiming "Eh, tale est vita," and joined in.

Mione broke up the fight as soon as she noticed it, which didn't happen until Harry had caught the Snitch-a mere five minutes after the game started. On their way back, Mione started badgering Nico about what he did. "Nico, that was amazing! How did you get your wand with a mere flick of your wrist? Was it wandless magic or . . ."

Nico interrupted her by starting to laugh. "Wandless magic? Ha! That's crazy, Mione. It's actually something far more simple. It's nothing more complicated than a wrist holster." He pulled down his left sleeve, revealing a dragon skin holster strapped around his upper left arm. "A simple flick of the wrist, and my wand's in my hand. I hold my arm straight up and let go of it, and my wand is back in it's holster. Simple, yet highly effective."

That night after dinner, Harry pulled the three into an empty room and told them that he had seen Snape talking to Quirrell in the Dark Forest after the Quidditch match, asking if Quirrell had found out how to get past Fluffy and that they had also met on Christmas, where Snape had threatened him. "So we were right, it is the Philosopher's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy — and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus pocus' — I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through —"

"But Harry, remember what Percy said about Snape on our first night? He said that Snape had been after the DADA position for years, so why would he need Quirrell's help beating a DADA spell?"

"Alright Nico, if you're so smart, then explain why Snape was asking if Quirrell had figured out how to get past Fluffy!"

"Easy, Weasley. Snape, like me, suspects Quirrell and wants to know how far he's gotten in beating the guardians."

Ron was pretty upset with Nico for his logical argument and wouldn't talk to him for two weeks. During that time, Nico started something that most of Gryffindor tower loved. After he finished his homework, he would start playing his violin, usually a tune that was designed to soothe the nerves and calm the mind. And seeing as how he was usually the first one done, his music was very welcome among those still working. Then, about two months before the exams, Harry became worried about the Stone again, and the Trio decided to find out what else was guarding the Stone, so they went to visit Hagrid. Curious about their intentions, Nico followed them as Goldie. He arrived there just as Mione asked who else had done the guarding. "Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that… let's see… he borrowed Fluffy from me… then some o' the teachers did enchantments… Professor Sprout — Professor Flitwick — Professor McGonagall —" he ticked them off on his fingers, "Professor Quirrell — an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape. It's a waste of bloody time though, if you ask me. Ain't no one gonna get past Fluffy. Ain't a soul knows how, except for me and Dumbledore." Then he realized he said too much. "I shouldn'ta told ya that. I should not have told ya that."

Just then Hagrid's pot started rattling, and he pulled out what looked like a smooth, round, mottled brown stone. He then took it to his table and set it down, still rattling. Harry didn't recognize it, so he asked "Uh, Hagrid? What exactly is that?"

"That? It's a . . . it's a . . ."

To Nico's surprise, Ron responded "I know what that is! But Hagrid, how did you get one?"

"I won it. Off a stranger I met down in the pub. Seemed quite glad to be rid of it, as a matter of fact." As he said that, the stone started rattling even more until it shattered, revealing it be not a stone, but an egg. And from the egg came a winged reptile about the same size as Goldie. It was so cute that Nico and Hagrid both instantly fell in love with it.

"Is that . . . a dragon?" Mione asked.

"That's not just a dragon. That's a Norwegian Ridgeback. My brother Charlie works with them in Romania." As much as Nico loved the dragon, he perked up at that. He knew that dragons grew very fast (it was one of the few things agreed on in Muggle fantasy stories) and that it wouldn't be long before it could be a threat to the school.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Then the dragon turned to Hagrid and cooed while wagging it's tail. "Oh, bless him look, he knows his mummy! 'Ello Norbert."

"Norbert?"

"Yeah, well he's gotta have a name, doesn't he?" Hagrid started tickling Norbert's neck and naturally, Norbert sneezed, causing Hagrid's beard to catch on fire. "Well, he'll have to be trained up a bit, of course." Then he spotted someone looking in through the window. "Who's that?"

Harry and Nico recognized the face immediately. "Malfoy."

For the next week the four attempted to persuade Hagrid to get rid of Norbert before Malfoy told Dumbledore about him. Eventually, Harry did manage to convince Hagrid to send Norbert to Charlie Weasley and his dragon colony in Romania. Unfortunately Malfoy found out about the plan to evacuate Norbert, and Neville overheard him. Nico found out that Neville knew and attempted to stop him from telling anybody. "But Nico, Harry needs to know! What if Malfoy actually found him before he got rid of the dragon?"

"Yeah, and what if McGonagall finds us? There's not a snowball's chance in hell that she'll believe us about the dragon and she'll probably punish us _and_ Harry for it. That would get us at least a detention, if not a major loss of house points."

"Close, Mr. Grace. But I could do worse than that." The two friends paled. They had been caught by one of the four worst people possible: Professor McGonagall. She brought the pair with her when Filch announced that he had caught two other students out after curfew. Turns out that it was Mione and Harry who had apparently left behind the Invisibility Cloak. She asked them to explain themselves, and for once Mione refused to answer, so she guessed. "I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on. It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"

"But Professor, why would Harry and Hermione need to be out of bed if it were just a story? There really was a dragon and they were sending it to Charlie Weasley!" Harry and Mione were shocked that Nico actually knew about the dragon, let alone that he knew what they were doing that night.

"Even if that were true, and I don't believe it is, nothing, I repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk about the school at night. Therefore, as punishment for your actions, fifty points will be taken."

"Fifty?"

"Each. And to ensure it doesn't happen again, all four of you will receive detention." 200 points lost in a single night, destroying any chance of Gryffindor winning the house cup. The only thing that kept the other Lions from strangling the four friends was Nico's music, truly teaching them the meaning of the saying "Music has charms to soothe the savage beast." Harry was so upset that he even offered to resign from the Quidditch team, but the captain, Oliver Wood, refused to let him even think of that. The only people that stood by the friends were the Weasley's, mostly the twins who kept their spirits high by providing a number of opportunities for them to laugh at something. Neville got the worst of the punishment for the incident, as his Gran sent him a howler, calling him a "disgrace to the Longbottom name."

Then, ten days before exams, the four were sent a message, saying that their detention would be served that night at 11 o'clock. When they met with Filch to go their detention, they unfortunately found another person waiting, Draco Malfoy. They did get a bit of luck, as they found out that they would be serving detention with Hagrid, but it was balanced with bad luck as they would be serving it inside the Dark Forest. Malfoy objected because he believed that there were werewolves in the forest and that it was servant's work and that he'd complain to his father about this. Hagrid immediately shut him up by threatening him with expulsion if he wasn't willing to do his detention.

"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment." He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest. "Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood." Nico gasped at that. "There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the tenth time since you fellas got here. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

"Unicorns are being hurt? Bloody hell, that's what Dad's mission is about. No wonder Dumbledore specifically requested him."

"What are you talking about, Nico?"

"It's not that important, Harry. Let's see what we can find." Hagrid split them up so that Harry and Mione were with him, while Nico and Nev were paired up with Malfoy and Hagrid's boarhound, Fang. Things went fine until Malfoy disappeared on them. The duo went looking for him, until Malfoy spooked Neville by showing up behind him. Malfoy scared Neville enough for him to send up the red distress sparks, which brought Hagrid and the others running to them, and a rearrangement of the partners. This time Nico and Neville were with Hagrid. (But before they resplit, Nico did get Malfoy back for scaring Neville: he broke his nose.)

But even that didn't last long as about twenty minutes after they split up again, Malfoy and Fang found them, and Malfoy was blubbering about some creature they had found. The reunited group immediately headed in the direction that Malfoy had come from. They quickly found Harry with a centaur. "I'm fine," said Harry, clearly in shock. "The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."

Nico immediately ran for the clearing, desperate to calm his fears. He found the clearing easily enough, and sure enough, there was the unicorn. But then the unicorn's form shifted and blurred into the form of a forty year old man with red hair and blue eyes. Nico recognized him immediately. "Dad! No, you can't die. Please, don't."

Eric gasped when he saw his son standing over him, and then his mind became focused on his mission and passing on the information he had learned. But he only managed to stutter "Quir . . . Quir . . . Mold . . . Shorts . . . . . Tur . . . Ban." Then Eric breathed his last, and Nico broke down and cried over his father's corpse.

He was still there when the others finally found him two hours later.


	7. End of the Year

**A/N:** Still no reviews or alerts? Oh well, I'm going to keep updating this story, no matter what.

**Altered Fates**

**Part One: The Philosopher's Stone**

**Chapter Seven: End of the Year**

In the years to come, Nico would always wonder how he managed to survive, let alone pass the exams while mourning his father's death. Besides himself, only Harry, Mione, Neville and Cedric knew why Nico was so depressed, and they knew that nothing would be able to cheer him up until he was ready to move on. Every night he dreamed of the creature that Harry described as being Voldemort, a cloaked figure with blood dripping from his mouth. But that wasn't the only thing that was on Nico's mind. He was also trying to figure out the mystery of his father's last words. What was Quir short for? The other two parts were easier. Mold shorts actually meant Moldyshorts, a favored Marauder nickname for Voldemort, while tur ban was actually one word, turban. But what did Voldemort and a turban have to do with Quir?

But that wasn't the only mystery in their last weeks. Apparently Harry was having pains centered in his lightning bolt scar, usually during their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Then, just after their exams, Harry realized something that should have struck them as odd two months before: the one thing Hagrid wanted most in this world was a dragon, and some bloke in a pub just happened to have a dragon egg? The odds were so stacked against it happening on accident that Harry was sure that the person after the Stone was the one responsible for Norbert. And he was right. The person who 'lost' Norbert had seemed interested in Fluffy and refused to show his face. While he was telling them about the stranger, Hagrid accidentally let slip a very important piece of information. "Well of course he was interested in Fluffy. How often do you come across a three-headed dog, even if you're in the trade? But I told him, I said, I said 'The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him. Take Fluffy for example. Just play him a bit of music and he falls straight to sleep.'" The four looked at each other and then stared at Nico. _Bloody hell, I'm in trouble now. Why did Hagrid have to mention music?_ Nico thought. Then Hagrid realized his mistake and said "I shouldn'ta told you that."

The Golden Trio immediately ran for Professor McGonagall to ask directions to Dumbledore's office and warn him about the attempt to steal the Stone, while Nico went straight to the dorm and sleep. He knew that with Harry determined to protect the Stone, there was no chance that he'd get any sleep tonight. Oddly enough though, what woke him wasn't Ron or Harry shaking him, but the sound of something hitting the floor, hard. Nico shot out of bed and ran down to the common room, still in his pajamas. He found Neville lying on the floor as stiff as a board. "Bloody hell. Nev, what happened to you? Losna."

As soon as the spell hit Neville, he was able to move. "Nico, we've got trouble! Harry and the others have left the tower again!"

"Oh, Neville. You tried to stop them, didn't you?" Nev nodded. "If you knew anything about Harry's parents you'd have known that the best thing to do is to help him out. Trying to stop him is like trying to stop the sun from rising. He's just too stubborn and noble to stop. Now, I'm going to go help them, you should probably go back to bed." Nico headed for the door, then stopped and turned around. "Neville, if you had to protect something and you were going to use a plant, what would you use?"

Neville thought about it for a moment, and then said "Devil's Snare. It can strangle anything that comes in contact with it, and if you panic than it tightens all the faster. And before you ask, it hates light and heat."

"Thanks a lot, Nev!" Once Neville had gone up to the First Years boys dorm, Nico changed to Goldie and flew out to the forbidden corridor. He just managed to avoid Peeves, who claimed to be on lookout, working for the Bloody Baron. Once inside the corridor, Nico pulled out a 'borrowed' CD player, and started playing the lullaby CD he had placed inside. Naturally, Fluffy fell straight to sleep, but Fluffy fell right on top of the CD player, destroying it. Hitting the CD player woke him up, but Nico had already landed on top of the Devil's Snare. "Alright, let's see if this spell will work for me. Brisingr!" To his great surprise, it worked perfectly, burning enough of the Devil's Snare to free him and allow him down to the floor. "Well, that's Hagrid's defense and Sprout's. That leaves Flitwick, Snape, Quirrell, McGonagall and Dumbledore. Wonder who's next."

Nico moved slowly and cautiously with his wand out, prepared for anything, or so he thought. As he walked into the next room, he was surprised to find nothing more than a locked door in front of him, and oddly enough, a broom lying near the door. He walked up to the door and tried several of his unlocking charms but nothing worked, so he looked up to take a look at the birds in the room. Well, his ears had told him they were birds, but his literal eagle eyes showed him that they were in fact charmed keys-Flitwick's challenge. Changing back to his Animagus form, he quickly caught the key and unlocked the door. Nico then continued down the corridor until he found an enormous room that seemed to be a graveyard. And off to one side lay an unconscious Ron. Then from the far side of the room, Mione came running to Ron. She had just reached him when she spotted Nico. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm following you guys, what else? Where's Harry?"

"He's heading for the Stone now, but there's no way to get to him now."

"What do you mean?"

"You'd have to get past McGonagall's chess set, but you can't get past Snape's test. You have to drink a certain potion to get past fire, but there was only enough for Harry to go, that's why I'm here and not with him."

Nico considered it for a moment, then said "Take Ron back to Madame Pomfrey, I'm going to go help Harry."

"But how? You can't get past the fire!"

"Just take care of Ron. Wingardium Leviosa should get him up to Fluffy while you take the broom. Oh, and don't forget Harry's cloak." As soon as Hermione turned her back, Nico shifted again, and as he suspected, the chess set didn't react to him. He flew as quickly as possible down the corridor, passing the troll and potion table with barely a glance.

When he arrived at the final chamber, Nico overheard someone saying "Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor, st-stuttering Professor Quirrell?" Quirrell? Nico had been right all along? He had to admit, there were times when he was convinced that he'd had it wrong and it was Snape, or some unknown third party after the Stone. But he didn't have time to think about it, as Quirrell went on. "No, dear boy. _I_ tried to kill you! And trust me, if your friend Ms Granger hadn't knocked me over and broken my eye contact, I would have succeeded. Even with Snape muttering his little counter-jinx."

Harry couldn't believe that Snape had tried to save him, but Nico could, considering what Eric had said about Snape and Lily's relationship. Quirrell kept on with his little speech. "I knew you were a danger to me right from the off, especially after Halloween. I have a special gift with trolls, certainly you saw what I did to the one back there? Snape, unfortunately wasn't fooled. While everyone else was running about the dungeon, he went to the third floor to head me off. That night was a disaster. Not only did my troll fail to crush you, the dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly. He, of course, never trusted me again. He barely left me alone. But he doesn't understand. I'm never alone. Never." Nico didn't understand what he was saying, until he noticed that Harry was clutching his scar. Of course! That was Eric's last message! _Quirinius Quirrell has Moldyshorts under his turban._ That's why Harry's scar always hurt during and after DADA classes!

Quirrell in the meantime was trying to figure out how to get the Stone. He was extremely frustrated, until a disembodied voice said "Use the boy." Quirrell then demanded that Harry come to him. To Nico's disbelief, Harry willingly went, but he figured out Harry's plan when he said what he saw in the Mirror of Erised. "I'm shaking hands with Dumbledore. I've won the House Cup." Harry had went to get the Stone for himself, while daring to lie to Quirrell. But the voice spoke again, saying "He lies." When Quirrell demanded that Harry tell the truth, the voice said "Let me speak to him, face to face."

"Master, you are not strong enough."

"I have strength enough for thisss." Nico immediately realized what the voice was when Quirrell started unwrapping his turban. It was Voldemort himself speaking. Once the turban was unwrapped, it revealed a bone-pale face with slits for nostrils and blood-red eyes, truly the face of evil. "Harry Potter, we meet again. You see what I've become? See what I must do to survive? Live off another as a mere parasite. Unicorn blood has sustained me for these past nine months, but it cannot give me a body of my own. However, there is something that can. Something that, conveniently enough, lies in your pocket." Harry attempted to run, but flames burst from the floor, trapping the four of them in the chamber. "Don't be a fool. Why suffer a horrific death when you can join me and live?"

"Never!"

"Bravery. Your parents had it too. Your father put up a courageous fight, but your mother need not have died, she was trying to protect you. Speaking of them, tell me, Harry, would you like to see your mother and father again? Together, we can bring them back. All I ask is for something in return." Nico knew that Harry would be tempted by that offer. Nico knew that his family would definitely be Harry's weak spot, the best place for Voldemort to tempt him, even if he couldn't deliver on his promise. "And if you don't give me the Stone, I'm sure I can convince that bird to bring it to me." Well, there was no way Nico would do that, so he immediately took off and started pecking at Voldemort and Quirrell, but Quirrell swatted him away.

"Pesky bird. Harry, there is no good and evil. There is only power, and those too weak to seek it. Together, we'll do extraordinary things. You have at least one friend that agrees with me. Just give me the Stone!" But Harry, encouraged by Nico's defiance, refused. Voldemort cried out "Kill him!" Quirrell flew at Harry and grabbed his throat, planning on choking him, but his hand started smoking. When he pulled back, his hand started turning to dust. Voldemort told him to go for the Stone, but Harry grabbed Quirrell by the face and Nico grabbed the Stone in his talons, buying Harry time to defeat Quirrell/Voldemort. When Nico turned back, to his surprise, Quirrell had turned completely to dust, leaving only the vaporous Voldemort behind. Voldemort then flew through Harry, causing him to collapse. Not one minute later, Dumbledore came flying through and carried Harry to the hospital wing. While he was carrying Harry through the chambers, Dumbledore turned to Nico and said "It's good to see that at least one of Harry's friends managed to follow him all the way through. But do try to be more careful next time, Mr. Grace. The dangers will probably only increase as time goes by. And I hope that you plan on registering with the Ministry soon." To tell the truth, he wasn't. According to a little known footnote about animagi, as they were so rare, underage animagi were not required to register until they had come of age, and Nico was going to keep Goldie a secret as long as possible.

While Harry was recovering from his slight case of magical exhaustion, Dumbledore had Nico explain everything he knew about how the four friends knew about the Stone and the challenges. Luckily, he didn't seem upset with Hagrid spilling the beans, and allowed Nico to be around when Dumbledore spoke to Harry about what happened. Three days after their adventure, Dumbledore sent a message to Nico, letting him know that Harry had almost recovered enough to wake up, and would he please be there in the next hour? When Nico flew in, Dumbledore was saying "What happened between down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret. So, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it." Hmm, blowing up a toilet? Nico would have to remember that for a later date.

"What happened to the Stone?"

"Relax, dear boy. The Stone has been destroyed." Nico doubted that. It seemed almost as if the whole plan of hiding the Stone at Hogwarts was a plan to lure Voldemort out of hiding.

"Destroyed? But what about Mr. Flamel?"

"Ah, you know about Nicolas? Then you did go about it properly. Well, Nicolas and I had a little chat, and agreed it was best all around. They have just enough Elixir to set their affairs in order. But yes, he will die. Though it seems strange to one as young as you, to the Flamels, death is like going to bed after a very long day. After all, to the organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

"How is it that I got the Stone, sir?" That was a question that Nico wanted answered as well, and one that Dumbledore had refused to answer him.

"Ah, you see, only a person who wanted to find the Stone, find it but not use it, would be able to get it. That is one of my more brilliant ideas. And between you and me, that is saying something." So, the old codger did have a weakness after all, Dumbledore was proud.

"Does that mean, with the Stone gone that is, that Vol-, I mean You-Know-Who, can never come back?"

"First, call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself. But, I'm afraid there are ways in which he can return. But if he is delayed again and again, why, he may never return to power."

"Voldemort said that he only killed my mother because she tried to stop him from killing me. But why would he want to kill me in the first place?"

"Alas, this I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day… put it from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older… I know you hate to hear this… when you are ready, you will know." Nico glared at him. Who was he to decide when Harry was ready to know something? Shouldn't Harry decide that for himself?

"Then why couldn't Professor Quirrell touch me?"

"It was because of your mother. She sacrificed herself for you, and if there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's leaves it's own mark." Harry immediately reached for his scar, but Dumbledore kept going. "This kind of mark cannot be seen. It lives in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."

"And what about my invisibility cloak? Do you know who sent it?"

"Ah, your father left that in my possession just before they went into hiding and I thought you might like it. Your father mostly used it to sneak into the kitchens to steal food, unless of course, he was sneaking around the castle after curfew, as you and your friends like to do." Dumbledore got up to leave, until he spotted one of Harry's gifts. "Ah, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. I was most unfortunate in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one. And since then I'm afraid, I've lost my liking for them. But I think I could be safe with a nice toffee." Dumbles popped a golden colored bean in his mouth and started to chew. "Alas! Earwax."

The next day was the end of the year feast, but before they started, Dumbledore stood up and gave a speech. "Another year, gone. I hope your heads are a little fuller now then when they were when you arrived. Now, as I understand it, the House Cup needs awarding. And the points stand thus: in fourth place, Gryffindor with 252 points. Third place, Hufflepuff with 352 points. In second place, Ravenclaw with 426 points. And in first place, with 472 points, Slytherin House." Slytherin was naturally extremely pleased with themselves. "Yes, well done, Slytherin. Well done, Slytherin. However, recent events must be taken into account. And I have a few last-minute points to award. To Miss Hermione Granger, for the cool use of logic in the face of fire, 50 points. Second, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess that Hogwarts has seen these many years, 50 points." Everyone was cheering at that, as Gryffindor was now tied for third. Even Percy the prat managed to cheer for his brother.

"Third, to Mr. Nico Grace, for extreme loyalty and courage in the face of death, 60 points. And fourth, to Mr. Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor House 60 points." Now the Lions and Snakes were tied with 472 points each. "And finally, it takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. I award 20 points to Neville Longbottom. Assuming that my calculations are correct, I believe that a change of decoration is in order." And with a clap of his hands, the green and silver Slytherin flags changed to red and gold Gryffindor flags. "Gryffindor wins the House Cup." Everyone cheered as Slytherin suffered their first defeat in seven years.

As they left the next day, Harry got a goodbye present from Hagrid-a photo album of his parents, and a suggestion to make his home life easier-threatening his family with magic, as they didn't know that students couldn't do magic outside of Hogwarts until they came of age at seventeen. But there were other problems besides unwelcome family. Nico, unlike any of the others, had no idea what kind of home he was heading into, as he had no idea what his mother even _looked _like, let alone what she was like. When he got off the train, Nico panicked, as he saw a blonde woman with similar features to Malfoy. It wasn't possible that he had something in common with that bloody git, was it? Only the next summer would tell.


	8. When it Rains, it Pours

**Altered Fates**

**Part Two: Heir of Slytherin**

**Chapter One: When it Rains, It Pours**

The summer after his first year at Hogwarts was _not_ fun for the young wizard Nico Grace. His father, Eric Grace was murdered only a few months before, leaving him with only his unknown mother, Sarah Grace, and though she was almost never around, she was still a strict taskmaster. Before she left for work, she would always grab a friend of hers, usually Macnair or Narcissa Black Malfoy, sometimes Thorfinn Rowle, and they would make sure that he completed the tasks Sarah had given him. Also, each of them tried to instil the pureblood ideology in him, but it never stuck, to his mother's great annoyance. Other than his thirteenth birthday, he never got to see his best friend and honorary brother, Cedric Diggory or his newest friend, Neville Longbottom. As for Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, he was never allowed to see them, and only managed to write them at night when his mother had gone to bed. The only upside to all this was the fact that he now knew a number of spells that he hadn't before, and could now cast any spell on his first try-to at least some degree, whereas before he had needed to work at least a week ahead of his classmates just to stay even with them in wand work. (Those spells included the one necessary to make a Howler, which he quickly used to send one to Augusta Longbottom so he could scold her for the way she treated Neville.)

Speaking of Harry, on July 31, Harry's birthday, Nico overheard someone from the Ministry telling his mother that magic had been detected at Harry's home, specifically a levitation charm. As head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (DMLE,) Improper Use of Magic Office, Sarah Grace gladly sent a letter to his home, warning him about using magic in front of Muggles, or for that matter, outside of school. But even Nico failed to follow that particular law that summer. Mrs. Grace was naturally furious when she got home. "How do you expect me to keep my job when my own son breaks the law? I suppose it is because you spent so much time with those mudbloods Potter and Granger. If it were up to me, you wouldn't spend another minute with them and you'd transfer to the most noble house of Salazar Slytherin!" Huh? Nico clearly remembered his father saying that his mother was a fellow Gryffindor, not a Slytherin.

"If I remember correctly, mother, there's a clause in the Decree for the Restriction against Underage Wizardry that allows for underage magicians to use magic in a life-threatening situation."

"It's Clause Seven, and what's that got to do with anything?"

"It has everything to do with it! Haven't you heard any of the reports about a hag/vampire couple causing trouble in the area? They found me and were going to kill me! What else was I supposed to do but use magic to defend myself? You know how fast vampires can be!" Well, she couldn't say anything to that, but she did warn him that the next time he would be brought before the Wizengamot for trial. After that, his babysitters started teaching him about the Dark Arts, including something that would never be found in the Hogwarts library, a rare artefact that would become very important in his last years at Hogwarts: Horcruxes. After each day's lesson was done, Nico would head straight to bed and suffer from nightmares about what he had learned, especially from the Horcrux lesson. Killing a person so you could split your soul in order to become immortal? Nico wouldn't have been surprised if he learned Voldemort had made a number of Horcruxes, as that would probably explain his inhuman features.

But he didn't have much time to dwell on Horcruxes, as the day afterwards he received his Hogwarts letter, revealing the next years required textbooks, most of which had been written by the former Badger, Gilderoy Lockhart. When he got home, (well, actually the Diggory's home) he started reading the books, only to find them to be mostly about Lockhart himself, and most of the information in it about the creatures was fake. And according to the clerk at Flourish and Blott's, Lockhart was going to be the new DADA teacher. Nico knew that this was going to be a long, frustrating year. Cedric on the other hand was just glad that he wouldn't be taking his OWLs (Ordinary Wizarding Level tests) until next year. The 'brothers' then decided to go back to Flourish and Blott's to pick up some other DADA books that would be far more accurate and useful.

When the two got on the train, they were quickly joined by Neville (who had lost some of his baby fat over the summer,) Hermione, and Cedric's Slytherin friend, Romulus White. After everyone had been introduced (and assured the Romulus was a great guy, despite being a Snake,) Mione asked "Has anyone seen Harry or Ron?"

Romulus stared at her. "You mean you haven't seen them? The Golden Trio didn't make plans to meet at the platform? I'm shocked!"

"Golden Trio?"

"What, didn't you know? That's what the entire school is calling you three, the Golden Trio. Especially after what happened in June."

"Fascinating. Why are you two sitting in here with us? I would have thought that you'd be sitting with people in your own house and year."

"Well, I would have, but I didn't get to spend much time with my little brother last year." Nico blushed at Cedric's statement and gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. "Anyway, Romulus here has been a friend of mine for three years now, so why wouldn't we sit here? Besides, Romulus has a thing for brunette brainiacs."

Mione blushed at that, but the conversation flowed quickly until Neville noticed something outside. "Hey, since when did cars fly?" Everyone pressed up against the window to see a flying Ford Anglia, with Harry hanging out the front passenger door.

"Those boys are going to be in so much trouble when we get to Hogwarts. Why would they even _think_ about doing something so foolish?"

"Well Mione, my guess is that they had some sort of trouble before they got on the platform, because there is no way that Harry would have gone along with something so foolish unless he had a good reason," Neville said. Hermione seemed mollified at that and calmed down, especially after Harry was pulled safely back into the car.

Then Nico remembered something that had bothered him in First Year. "Hey, Rom? Aren't your dorms in the dungeons?" When Romulus nodded, he asked, Well then, when the troll showed up on Halloween, where did you Snakes go?"

"The younger students go to the library, while the older ones use a secret room made by Salazar himself. Only the students in Fourth Year and up can use it because it's just too small for all of us."

They had one more incident before they arrived at Hogwarts. As newly minted Second Years, Nico, Hermione and Neville were able to take carriages to Hogwarts instead of the boats they'd used the previous year. However, they were never warned about the creatures that _pulled_ the carriages, so Nico panicked when he saw the . . . horses. If you could call them horses. The horses were as pale as death, with bat-like wings and no hair except on the tail. Oddly enough, he seemed drawn to one in particular. "What the bloody hell are those things?"

Cedric looked at him like he was trying to pull a joke. "What are you talking about, little bro?"

"Those horse things hitched to the carriage! What are they?"

Cedric was starting to look worried about his little brother. "Nico, don't you think I'd have told you about something pulling the carriages? Are you sure that you feel ok?"

Then Neville said, "If he's feeling sick, then we've got the same thing, because I can see them too. Winged horses that are as pale as death, two to a carriage." Unfortunately, none of the others had an answer, so they just shrugged their shoulders and just got in the carriage.

That night in Gryffindor Tower, the four friends got together to hear Harry's explanation as to why him and Ron used the car instead of getting on the train. Ron would have been there, but he didn't really like Neville or Nico, and he barely tolerated Mione so he went to bed. "Well, we had just watched Ron's parents go through the barrier and went to go ourselves, but the barrier sealed itself, so we crashed into it and attracted the attention of some of the Muggles. Ron panicked when we realized that we'd missed the train, so I suggested that we wait by the car. Ron then suggested that we use the car to get to Hogwarts, and eventually persuaded me. Although, it is a good thing I went with him. I had to remind him that Muggles aren't used to seeing a flying car. We had a pretty uneventful trip until the invisibility booster failed, that's when we decided to find the train. We actually ended up in front of the train, and in our haste to avoid being run over, I nearly fell out. We had a fairly peaceful trip after that, until we actually made it to Hogwarts. Ron almost crashed us into the castle, and eventually crashed us into the Whomping Willow. We barely made it out of there in one piece, and Filch found us a few minutes later." Nico got to tell Mione "I told you so," and then they went to bed.

The next day continued the torture, as Ron received a Howler and Harry was pulled aside by the self-serving pompous prat Lockhart before their first class: Herbology. A few minutes later, they could clearly hear Harry shouting "YOU CALL LOSING MY PARENTS TO A MURDERING PSYCHO A START? HOW INSENSITIVE CAN YOU GET? I JUST WANT A NORMAL LIFE, I _HATE _MY FAME!" Once he returned (looking quite pleased with himself,) Professor Sprout-head of Hufflepuff, started the lesson. "Today we're going to re-pot Mandrakes. Who here can tell me the properties of Mandrake root?"

To everyone's surprise, Neville's hand was the first to shoot up. "Mandrakes are used to restore people who have been cursed, petrified, or transfigured to their original state."

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor, Mr. Longbottom. The Mandrake forms an essential part to most antidotes. However, it is also quite dangerous, can anyone tell me why?"

Again Neville beat Hermione to the punch (probably because Mione was still in shock.) "The cry of the Mandrake root can cause a lot of damage. A fully grown Mandrake can kill, while ones that are as young as these appear to be can only knock someone unconscious for a few hours."

"Well done, twenty points to Gryffindor. Now, I have provided enough earmuffs for all of you, so could you please put them on right away? Quickly." Once everyone had put them on (with a bit of a race among the boys to avoid the pink ones,) Professor Sprout continued. "Flaps tight down, and watch me closely. You grasp your Mandrake firmly, you pull it sharply out of the pot." When she did so, her Mandrake started crying out in a voice that was so high pitched that Nico could easily understand why the older ones could kill. "Got it? And now you dunk it down into the other pot and pour a little sprinkling of soil to keep him warm." Once she had finished with her own, she set them on their own Mandrakes. But the combined voices of nearly twenty young Mandrakes was too much for Nico's sensitive ears, and he passed out, his Mandrake landing right by his right ear.

By the time Madame Pomfrey had woken him up and restored his hearing, it was time for their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class with Lockhart, who mysteriously had a bit of a black eye, something he had not had before Herbology. "Let me introduce you to your new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher." At this, Nico's heart jumped. Was it possible that this git was _not_ going to be their teacher after all? But his hopes were in vain as Lockhart continued by saying "Me. Gilderoy Lockhart. Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League, and five time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award. But I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her." _No, but you may lose most of the guys in this class if you keep smiling!_ But it seemed like only the guys saw through the git, as most of the girls were fawning over him, including Hermione!

"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books, well done. Now, I thought we'd start today with a little quiz! Nothing to worry about, just to check how well you've read them. How much you've taken in." When he handed Nico and Neville their quizzes (labeled _Defense Against the Dark Arts Second Year Essential Knowledge Test_,) they quickly noticed that not one had anything to do with DADA, and _everything_ to do with Lockhart, increasing the suspicious feelings Nico had had towards the famous author since the previous year. That was when Nico decided to go to war with Lockhart, and he'd start with this 'test.' He'd just need a few allies before ramping it up to it's full notch.

"You have thirty minutes. Start now!" _What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?_ Black, like his Death Eater robes. _What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?_ To become Lord Voldemort's number one Death Eater. _What is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?_ Being the worst DADA teacher Hogwarts has seen to date. _How many times has Gilderoy Lockhart won Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award?_ Never. And on Nico went until he hit _When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday and what would his ideal gift be?_ Nico's response: December 21 (longest night of the year) and the resurrection of Lord Voldemort. Neville laughed when he looked over at Nico's answers.

When the thirty minutes were up, Lockhart criticized nearly all of the tests, except for Hermione's and Nico's. Mione answered all of the questions correctly, while he just stared at Nico's test in shock. "Where is Mr. Grace?" When he stood up, Lockhart said "If I weren't so against taking away Ms Granger's well earned points, I'd take 50 from Gryffindor right now. As it is, detention tonight in my office. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that, based on your answers to my quiz, that you were trying to paint me as a Death Eater!"

"What, you mean you're not? Huh, based on the way you act, I'd have sworn that you were. You're certainly nuts enough. And evil enough." The last part he said under his breath, with only Neville and Harry hearing him. Both softly chuckled at his joke, while Harry nodded his agreement.

"A week's detention, Mr. Grace. Now, be warned. It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind." Using his wand, he tapped a cloth-covered cage that immediately started rattling. "You may find yourselves facing you worst fears in this room." Nico stared at him in shock. There was no way that a Boggart could be in that small cage, was there? But what else could he be talking about? "Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here." He then reached for the cloth, saying "I must ask you not to scream. It might . . . provoke them!" He pulled off the cloth, revealing . . .

"Cornish pixies?" Seamus Finnigan, the Irish second year Gryffindor let out a snort of laughter that no one could possibly mistake for a gasp of terror, not even Lockhart.

"Freshly caught Cornish pixies. Laugh if you will Mr. Finnigan, but pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters. See what you make of them!" Nico was sure that he wouldn't, but he did. The git actually let two dozen pixies loose in the DADA classroom! "Come on, come on, round them up! They're only pixies!" Two of them grabbed Neville by the ear and started lifting him up. Well, Nico couldn't have that, so he tried out one of the spells his 'tutors' had taught him over the summer. With a quick pair of _Stupefies_, the pixies dropped to the ground, while Harry used one of Lockhart's books to free Mione from one of them. Lockhart tried to stop them using the incantation _Peskipiksi Pesternomi!_ but it did nothing. The pixies actually stole his wand and used it to drop the skeleton of some magical creature that was hanging on the ceiling. Nico kept firing _Stupefies_ throughout the classroom, hoping to hit a few pixies. He did get a few of them, but he also managed to destroy a few Lockhart paintings and stun Lockhart himself. Hermione finished them off with a quick _Immobulus!_ allowing them to stuff the pixies into their cage.

The disaster of their first DADA class just increased Nico's resolve all the more. This year was going to be Lockhart's worst year of his life. By the time Nico was through, the pompous prat was going to wish he'd never applied for the DADA position. All Nico needed to do was gather a few allies, and the war would begin.


	9. Prank War and a New Spell

**Altered Fates**

**Part Two: Heir of Slytherin**

**Chapter Two: Prank War and a New Spell**

The day after their first DADA class, Nico pulled the Weasley twins into a classroom that Peeves was in the process of destroying. "Oi, Peeves! Get over here, we need to talk." Reluctantly, Peeves stopped and floated over to where the three boys had gathered.

"Alright Nico-"

"What's going on?"

"Why did you-

"Drag us in here?"

"It's simple, guys. I assume you've both had Lockhart this year, and you've met him Peeves? Well, I want the four of us to start hitting him with as many pranks as possible. If you agree, we are going to disrupt his classes, destroy his office, do everything possible to force him to leave. What do you say?" The twins and Peeves were troublemakers at heart anyway, so they gladly agreed to start a prank war against Lockhart.

* * *

><p>Over the next two months, Lockhart never got a moment's peace. Peeves was constantly doing something around him to keep him up at night, and throughout the day, the twins and Nico were constantly pranking him. His clothes would be destroyed, exploding food, his hair messed up, portraits demolished. The twins often released fireworks in the classroom, while Nico would launch stink pellets and certain potions at him. Nico even unleashed two dozen pixies inside his office as payback for the first lesson. And to make things better, no one could ever catch the three boys doing it, although everyone suspected them. But whenever someone asked them about the pranks, they would just smile innocently and claim no knowledge about them, or just start whistling. The twins would even use some of their home-made joke products to strike against Lockhart. The products were so good that Nico quickly suggested that they open up their own joke shop once they left Hogwarts, a suggestion that the twins took to heart.<p>

The first weekend at school brought something that would distract Nico from the prank war however. Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, had woken Harry up at seven in the morning for some early practice. Being a light sleeper, Nico was woken immediately and decided to head down to the Great Hall and get some breakfast. Ron and Hermione joined him about an hour later, and after they finished with no sign of Harry, they decided to head out to the Quidditch pitch, with Mione and Nico carrying some breakfast for Harry. When they got there, Harry revealed that they hadn't even started because Wood was attempting to teach them some new moves. They were just about to start when the Slytherin team showed up. Oliver was furious, demanding "Flint! What are you doing here? I booked the field for Gryffindor today."

"Easy Wood, I've got a note."

The trollish Slytherin then handed Oliver a note that he read aloud. "_I, Professor Severus Snape, do hereby give the Slytherin team permission to practice today, owing the need to train their new Seeker._ You've got a new Seeker. Who?"

The new Seeker was revealed to be Draco Malfoy, who had obviously bought his way onto the team with a set of new Nimbus 2011's for the entire team. Before Draco could start expounding on the virtues of the 2011, Nico stepped up, saying "That note is invalid. No matter what Professor Snape says, the field belongs to Gryffindor right now."

"Who says, Grace?" Malfoy demanded.

"School rules do. About a hundred fifty years ago, the Gryffindor and Slytherin heads of house were constantly booking the pitch for their teams to train, overruling the captains of the other teams. Headmaster Basil Fronsac was so irritated by it that he made the rule that no one could overrule the team captains on training times except the Headmaster and the Quidditch Referee. So, that note is either invalid or a forgery. Book the field for some other time, Flint."

"Who cares what a silly little Second Year Gryffindor has to say?" Flint asked. "But it doesn't matter, we'll still beat you. These 2011's outstrip the old 2010 series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps," — he smiled nastily at Fred and George, who were both clutching Cleansweep Twentys "—sweeps the board with them."

Mione spoke up, saying "Well, at least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in. They got in on pure talent."

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood."

Throughout the summer, Nico had had to deal with hearing his mother call his best friends Mudbloods, and hearing that foul word come out of Flint's mouth brought his entire rage to the forefront. His golden eyes turned as cold as ice and he fought his temper, but he knew it was a lost cause. Nico was a prime example of why the stereotype of redheads having explosive tempers existed, and in his case it was quite literal. Fortunately, Nico managed to direct his explosive temper at the ground between the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams, causing _it_ to explode instead of Malfoy or the brooms. The resulting explosion caused a meter deep, two and a half meter wide (3 ft by 8 ft) crater to appear at the Slytherin's feet. Ron also showed why the stereotype existed by attempting to curse Malfoy, (despite the fact that he looked as horrified as the Gryffindors) saying "Eat slugs!" Unfortunately, due to the fact that his wand was broken, the spell backfired, sending Ron flying backwards before making him belch up slugs instead of Malfoy. Harry immediately had them carry Ron to Hagrid's hut, hoping that he'd know what to do.

Once the four friends had gotten inside (after avoiding Lockhart,) Hagrid handed Ron a bucket, saying "Nothin' to do but wait till it stops, I'm afraid." He had good timing, as Ron belched up another slug. "Better out than in. Who was Ron trying to curse anyway?"

"Malfoy. Flint called Hermione something. I don't know what it means, but it must have been really bad, because they both lost their tempers."

Ron managed to hold back the slugs long enough to say "He called her Mudblood Hagrid."

"He did not!"

"He did. Like Harry said, it's obviously something rude, but I don't know what it means," Mione added.

Nico spoke up, explaining for Ron as he obviously couldn't speak at the time. "Mudblood is _the most_ insulting thing that he could think of. Mudblood is a foul name for Muggleborns and even half-bloods like me and Harry. Some wizards think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call 'pureblood.' That means that they haven't had any Muggles in their family tree for at least four generations. Because they think they're better than everyone else, they created the term Mudblood for anyone who has 'dirty blood.' The pureblood families carry a lot of political weight in our world, but other than that, the theory is a load of Hippogriff dung. Crabbe and Goyle are purebloods, and they can barely pass a single class, while they haven't invented a spell that Mione here can't do." Hermione blushed at the compliment.

Nico looked over to Ron, but Weasley was still barfing up slugs, so he kept going. "Besides, a good number of us are half-bloods these days. In fact, we'd have died out if we didn't marry Muggles or Muggleborns. Most pureblood families are starting to die out, either producing one or two kids, or they can only produce Squibs, the opposite of Muggleborns. A Squib is a Muggle born to magical parents. Weasley's family is one of the few exceptions to that particular rule, and even they've had a few Squibs in the family tree." All that managed to cheer Hermione up, and after a little joking about Harry giving out signed pictures, the four went back to the castle.

Although Hermione was cheered up, Nico's anger still hadn't abated and he was determined to find a way to make Flint pay for calling Mione a Mudblood. He searched through every note he'd ever made on curses, hexes and jinxes, but he found nothing that could possibly sate his fury and keep any Slytherin from calling her a Mudblood again. "Hey, what's up little bro?"

"Hey, Cedric. Did you hear what happened at the Quidditch pitch two weeks ago?"

"You mean Flint calling your friend a Mudblood? Yeah, who hasn't? What about it?"

"I want to curse Flint for what he did, but nothing here seems good enough to stop him from doing it again. I doubt even Weasley's curse would have stopped him if it had worked."

"Oh, you mean the 'eat slugs' curse? Yeah, you're probably right. You'd probably have to invent a whole new spell to get purebloods to stop calling Muggleborns Mudblood."

Nico's head shot up at that. "What did you say?"

Cedric was confused. "I said that you'd probably have to invent a whole new spell to get the purebloods to stop calling Muggleborns Mudblood. Why?"

"Do you think it would be possible for us to write a new spell? A spell that could prevent them from ever calling anyone that again?"

Cedric thought long and hard before answering Nico's question. "Well little bro, writing a spell is a difficult process, and dangerous. If we don't do it right, we could destroy our target or even kill ourselves. I've even met someone who lost their mother because she was experimenting with charms. But if you're really willing to take that risk, then I'd be willing to help you."

Nico, being a Gryffindor at heart, naturally jumped at the idea of writing a new spell, with the danger making it all that much more fun and exciting for him. With his knowledge of Latin, he quickly came up with a spell that would satisfy his rage, his need for vengeance, stop pureblood maniacs from calling anyone else Mudblood, and above all else, it would prove the ultimate irony. After a month working in the Room of Requirement, they finally managed to combine the words and a wand movement that wouldn't kill their targets while still having the desired effect. They watched the creatures affected by their new curse for two weeks before bringing it before the teachers.

The day of the Halloween feast, the two boys waited until the feast had begun and then strode up to the teacher's table, bringing with them a large rat. "Professors, Nico and I have come up with a new spell, due to an incident from two months ago. We want you to take a look at it."

"Well then, Mr. Diggory, let us see it."

"I would prefer that my little brother do it, sir. He is the one that came up with it."

Professor Dumbledore agreed, and once Cedric set the rat on the table, Nico performed the spell. With a simple swish and flick and the phrase _"__Lutum Sanguine,__"_ a brown flash of light swept from his wand and hit the rat dead on, but with no apparent effect.

"It seems that your spell has done nothing. Why did you bring it to us?"

"Professor, this spell of ours does not effect the outside of the target, but the _inside_. Cedric, if you would?" Cedric grabbed a knife from the table, and after putting a numbing spell on the rat, made a deliberate cut on the rat's wrist. To everyone's surprise, the wrist spilled not red blood, but _mud_. "In case you didn't hear, professors, Marcus Flint called Hermione Granger a Mudblood two months ago. In response, we created this spell so that, should _anyone_ use that word again, the Muggleborn can use this spell against the pureblood. It's poetic justice. We don't think that anyone would call someone a Mudblood if it was possible for someone to literally have mud for blood, do you?"

"Does it affect their health though, Mr. Grace?"

"Not so far as we could tell, Madam Pomfrey. We watched several rats for two weeks before bringing it to you. But if you wish, you can run medical spells on this rat for as long as you wish."

"This is a very impressive piece of transfiguration," McGonagall said. "But what is the counter-curse?"

Nico and Cedric turned to each other, and then turned back to McGonagall. Cedric replied "To be honest, we never created a counter-curse, professor. We were hoping that one of you would be able to come up with one." The professors willingly agreed, especially after Nico promised to provide new brooms for the house whose teacher created the counter-curse. (As Nico had recently discovered that his family was quite rich, he was certain that he could easily supply the brooms.)

Cedric headed to join his fellow Hufflepuffs, and Nico was going to do the same until he realized that Harry, Mione and Ron weren't at the feast. He ran out of the Great Hall and pulled out his Marauder's Map. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The previously blank parchment turned into a 3D map of the school, showing where everyone in the castle was at that moment. "Show me Harry Potter." Harry started pulsing in red and gold, showing him as being near the first floor girl's bathroom (second floor to Americans.) Nico quickly shifted into his animagus form, a golden eagle he called Goldie. (What? He was eight when he came up with the name, of course it was going to be a simple one.) Once he had made it to the second floor, he shifted back to human, and found a very unusual sight. Spiders, a whole army's worth, and all of them were leaving the castle in a line that was so straight, it was almost militaristic. Ignoring the odd behaviour of the spiders, Nico continued on until he found the Golden Trio in front of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The floor was covered with water, and on the wall in front of them hung Ms Norris, the caretaker's cat. And behind Ms Norris was a message written in red: **THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR: BEWARE!**

Just then, a large group of people showed up as they were heading back to their dorms at the end of the Halloween feast. They all froze when they saw Ms Norris and the message. Only one person said anything. "Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!" Of course, that prompted Nico to turn his new spell on Malfoy, fortunately before any of the teachers showed up. It was only after the spell hit that Nico realized that Draco seemed terrified of the message and that there was no way that he could have been the one to speak. Nott on the other hand looked excited. Nico slapped himself, because he didn't look closely, he punished the innocent instead of the guilty.


	10. The Chamber of Secrets

**Altered Fates**

**Part Two: Heir of Slytherin**

**Chapter Three: The Chamber of Secrets**

Filch showed up not one minute after Nico accidentally cursed Draco Malfoy. When he saw what had happened to Ms Norris, he jumped to the conclusion that one of the four friends had killed her, specifically Harry. While he was threatening Harry, Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and the git Lockhart showed up. While Dumbledore was calming the caretaker down, Nico had levitated the cat out of the torch bracket she'd been hung in and checked its pulse. "Mr Filch? She's not dead, she definitely has a pulse."

"Then why is she all stiff and frozen? Answer me that, if you can!"

"Argus! We will discuss this privately." Lockhart immediately offered the use of his office for the meeting. Nico smirked, wondering how Lockhart would react to the devastation the pixies had wrought. In the meantime, Dumbledore told the students "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately. Everyone except you four," pointing at Harry and his three friends. Lockhart then led the group to his office to discuss what had happened.

The pixies devastation of Lockhart's office was total. Not a single book lay intact, his portraits had all been damaged and/or pulled off the walls, even his desk was split in two. Dumbledore just gave a small grin when he saw the office and started examining Ms Norris. "Ms Norris has been petrified, Argus. But how she has been petrified, I cannot say."

"Ask him! It's him that's done it. You saw what he wrote on the wall! He knows I'm a Squib!"

"And do you really think I care about that? I didn't even know what a Squib was until last month! I've never even touched Ms Norris once since I got here."

"If I may, Headmaster?" Snape interrupted. "Perhaps Potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, the circumstances are suspicious. I, for one, don't recall seeing Potter at the feast tonight."

"I'm afraid that's my fault, Severus" Lockhart interrupted. "You see, Harry was serving detention with me, helping me answer my fan mail." Despite the tense situation, Nico smiled. Harry had told him that he had earned a second detention with Lockhart after he punched the glory hound before the Mandrake class. Somehow, Lockhart had thought that the flying car incident was an attempt to gain fame and that he had inspired it, so Harry punched him to shut him up. Snape mentioned that he should have gone to the feast, but Harry quickly countered that he didn't think the feast was still going on when he left, so he was going to head to the kitchens for some food, and he just happened to run into Hermione and Ron.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus."

"And what about Mr Grace? He hasn't explained where he went after showing us that intriguing spell of his." Mione stared at Nico in shock while he explained what happened, while leaving out any mention of the map.

"My cat has been petrified. I want to see some punishment!"

"We will be able to cure her, Argus. As I understand it, Professor Sprout has recently acquired a very healthy growth of Mandrakes. As soon as they have matured, I will have a potion made that will restore Ms Norris." After a short argument between Snape and Lockhart about who would make the potion, Dumbledore dismissed them.

A few minutes later, Mione said, "It's a bit strange, isn't it? You hear this voice, a voice only you can hear, and then Ms Norris turns up petrified. It's just strange."

"Do you think I should have told them? Dumbledore and the others, I mean."

"Are you mad? Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world," Ron replied.

"Is there anything you can remember about the voice that could help us identify it if we did hear it, Harry?" Nico asked.

"Other than the fact that it's a cold voice obsessed with killing? No, sorry." Nico filed it away, he was sure that the fact that only Harry could hear this voice was significant, and somehow that voice was also connected to this Chamber of Secrets business and the petrification of Ms Norris. But why would Filch think that him being a Squib had anything to do with it?

* * *

><p>Over the next week, Hermione started hanging out in the library even more than usual, and finally on November 6, she revealed that she was looking for information on the Chamber of Secrets, but she had found nothing. Nico had also been looking for information, but by going to his friends. Unfortunately, no one, not even Cedric or Romulus knew much about the Chamber, except for the fact that a monster was supposed to be in there. So, Hermione decided to ask a teacher during one of their classes. Naturally the first class she asked it was History of Magic, the only class taught by a ghost, and easily the most boring of all their classes. Binns was in the middle of a discussion on the International Warlock Convention of 1289 when she made her move. "Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us about the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."<p>

Nico leaned over to Harry and whispered, "One Galleon says Binns refuses to answer her."

"Done. Mione can be very persuasive when she wants to be."

Meanwhile, Binns was responding to Mione's question. "My subject is History of Magic. I deal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends."

He was just starting to continue when Mione interrupted again. "Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"

"That point could be argued, but I refuse to teach such a fanciful myth that has no basis in fact! There is no evidence that Salazar Slytherin built so much as a secret broom cupboard, therefore, it remains a myth!" Harry sighed and passed over the Galleon to Nico.

Hermione made another attempt in their Transfiguration lesson-turning animals into goblets. Ron had just attempted to turn his pet rat Scabbers into a goblet when she asked. (Ron had been unsuccessful, the base looked right, but the rest of the goblet still had fur and a tail and was still squeaking. Far better than should be expected with his broken wand.) "Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets."

"I would gladly tell you, but don't you think that is a better question for Professor Binns? He is the History teacher after all."

"Hermione already tried that, Professor. Binns refuses to teach it because it's a legend," Neville responded.

"Very well. You all know, of course that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. When they started out, they coexisted quite harmoniously, as they were great friends. But over the years, Salazar Slytherin got into many arguments with the other three, as he wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families, or in other words, purebloods. Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school. Now, according to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in this castle known as the Chamber of Secrets. Though, shortly before departing, he sealed it until that time when his own true heir returned to the school. The heir alone would be able to open the Chamber and unleash the horror within, and by so doing, purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic. Naturally, the school has been searched many times. No such chamber has been found."

Nico was intrigued by this 'horror' that was supposed to be in the Chamber, so he asked, "Professor, what exactly does the legend say lives in the Chamber?"

"The Chamber is said to be home to something that only the Heir of Slytherin can control. It is said to be the home of a monster." A monster, eh? Well, knowing Slytherin, it would probably be some kind of snake. But how could the Heir of Slytherin control the monster?

As the lesson continued, Nico noticed that Neville was still having trouble with the class, despite the boost in confidence he'd had, so he asked when Neville got the wand. "Well, my Gran gave it to me for my birthday-"

"She _gave_ you the wand? You mean that you didn't go to a wandmaker yourself?"

"No, it used to be my dad's wand and she thought that I should use it, why?"

"Neville, she's trying to turn you into a replacement for your dad. Damn, I thought my Howler would have straightened her out. But using your dad's wand is probably why you're not doing so well in our lessons. One of the first things any wandmaker will tell you is that you never get as good of results from another person's wand as you will with one that chooses you. As soon as I get away from my mother this year, you and I are going to get you your own wand, Nev." Neville smiled at the thoughtfulness of his friend, but was a little worried about what his Grandmother Augusta would say if she knew he had his own wand.

After the class, Seamus Finnigan said, "I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony. But I never knew he started all this pureblood nonsense. I wouldn't be in his House if you paid me! Honestly, if the Sorting Hat tried to put me in Slytherin, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" Then an odd thing happened. Ron, the one person that everyone thought would be Seamus' first supporter hissed at him. It almost seemed as if he was supporting Slytherin. Nico decided to take a different approach.

"Shut up, Seamus. You are taking it completely out of context." Everyone turned to Nico, confused about what he was saying. "The Founders lived over a millennia ago, back when people feared magic and would burn people at the stake when they were believed to be witches or wizards. It makes sense that Salazar would want only the purebloods at Hogwarts. If the Muggleborn's parents ever found out about Hogwarts, the school could have been attacked. Salazar was doing what he thought best for the school and its students. As for the monster, who's to say that it wasn't originally left here to defend the school instead of killing Muggleborns? Also, I can name two great Light wizards that were sorted into Slytherin: the Auror Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody and Merlin himself! How's that for the Snake Pit?" That argument stopped them and forced everyone to start rethinking their prejudice against Slytherin.

While most people went on to their common room, the Trio went to explore the scene of the crime and try to get some hints as to what happened while Nico and Neville went to the library to find some information on Salazar Slytherin. But all they found was the fact that he was an accomplished Legilimens and one of the earliest known Parselmouths. "What are these things, Nev?"

"Legilimency is very complicated, but it is basically mind-reading, telepathy. Of course, most Legilimens would get after you if you called it mind-reading."

"And Parselmouth?"

"A Parselmouth is someone who can speak Parseltongue, snake language, it's a really rare ability. Most people associate it with the Dark Arts and dark wizards. There's only been four known Parselmouths in history: Herpo the Foul, Salazar Slytherin, Paracelsus, the guy who gave the language its name, and You-Know-Who."

"Well that's an interesting coincidence. I know all of them. I've got Salazar and Paracelsus' Chocolate Frog Cards, my mother taught me about Herpo the Foul over the summer, and then everyone knows about Voldemort." Neville shuddered when Nico said the name. "Oh, come on Neville, it's just a name! What could he have done that was so terrible to make you and everyone else scared of even his name? From what I've heard Hitler and even Grindelwald were worse, and people don't mind saying their names."

Neville seemed to be a little confused at that and thought about it before finally answering "I guess it's because of the terror that he spread and the fact that he worked here. Hitler was a mass murderer but both he and Grindelwald fought out in the open, and they were foreigners. V-V-Voldemort fought a war of terror, you never knew where he was going to strike next or what he was going to do next. Those who lived through it were thought that he might show up if they said his name, and after he fell, they taught us to fear his name, though I don't know why."

"Well, at least we found something out about this monster." Neville stared at him in wonder until Nico explained. "It's a snake, Nev. Salazar was a Parselmouth, and he obviously loved snakes considering that's his house symbol. And you said that speaking Parseltongue is a rare gift, so obviously his heir would be able to speak it." Neville agreed with that and they went looking for monster snakes. All they found were the: Amphisbaena, Basilisk, Hydra, Ananta Shesha, Kaliya, and the Naga,none of which could petrify. Beaten, they headed back to the common room, but along the way, they ran into the Trio. They were discussing the Chamber of Secrets and the Heir of Slytherin, naturally. Mione had just asked who could possibly be the Heir.

"Well, let's think. Who do we know that thinks all Muggleborns are scum?" Harry asked quite seriously.

"If you're talking about Malfoy-"

Ron interrupted. "Of course. You heard him. 'You'll be next, Mudbloods.'"

"That was Flint, not Malfoy. But Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin? He was positively terrified of the message," Harry defended.

"Why not? Look at his family, the whole lot of them have been Sorted into Slytherin for centuries. Is it so hard to believe they aren't related to him? Maybe we can trick Crabbe or Goyle into telling us."

"Even they aren't that thick. But there might be another way. Mind you, it would be difficult. Not to mention we'd probably be breaking about 50 school rules, and it'll be dangerous. Very dangerous."

"If, in a month or so, you feel like explaining, you will let us know, won't you?" said Ron irritably.

"Ron, be nice! Mione was just making sure you understood how dangerous it would be. What is it and how can we help?"

"Thanks, Neville. What we'd need to do is to get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it's us."

Nico stared at her in shock. "_Polyjuice Potion?_ You aren't seriously thinking of making _Polyjuice Potion_, are you, Mione?"

"Well, why not?"

"Because that's a _Sixth Year_ potion, and we're only Second Years!"

"But you're a potions genius! Even Snape has to admit that."

"That's only because I've worked with my brother on the potions beforehand, and he won't be able to help, considering he's only two years older than us instead of the necessary four or five years. Besides, we'd need a copy of _Moste Potente Potions_, and that's in the Restricted Section. There is no way that a teacher is going to allow us to get that book. They'd have to be thicker than Quirrell to fall for anything we could come up with." Harry just smirked at Nico's objection. Somehow he had come up with an answer to get the book.

* * *

><p>Nico ate his words a few days later as Harry and Hermione tricked Lockhart into signing the form the day he assigned a poem about how he defeated a werewolf (Nico planned to write an essay pointing out how it couldn't have happened the way Lockhart wrote or told it.) Once they'd seen how complicated it was and how long it would take, Ron tried to back out again, but Mione was adamant. "I don't want to break rules, you know. I think threatening Muggleborns is far worse than brewing up a difficult potion. But if you don't want to find out if it's Malfoy, I'll go straight to Madam Pince now and hand the book back in."<p>

Nico turned to the others and said "I think we've been a bad influence on her. Attacking and lying to teachers last year, and now tricking and stealing from teachers. What's up for next year, Mione?" She just blushed and led them to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to start making the potion.

* * *

><p>That Saturday was the first Quidditch game of the year, and Harry's first game against Malfoy which made him want to win the game even more than usual. Unfortunately, that was made extremely difficult when a Bludger started acting like it was charmed to go after Harry, and only Harry. "You have something to do with this, Malfoy?" he shouted at his rival. Even with both Weasleys protecting him, Harry had to do some fancy flying to avoid getting hit.<p>

"Not a chance, Potter! If I'm going to beat you, it's going to be on my own talents, not because I cheated! I swear, if I find out one of my team-mates did this, I'll make sure they're expelled!"

Harry stopped and stared at him. "You can do that?"

Draco just smirked. "No, but I can frame them for something or make sure they get caught doing something they shouldn't. I _am_ a Slytherin, after all. Watch out!" Harry just managed to dodge the Bludger again before Fred knocked it back.

Eventually, Wood called a time out, demanding to know what the Twins were doing as the Slytherins were killing the Gryffindors. "Trying to keep the other Bludger from murdering Harry, Oliver," George growled at him.

"Yeah, someone's fixed that Bludger so it'll only go after Harry. It's like it's on a leash and it can only go so far before turning back after him," Fred continued.

"But the Bludgers have been locked in Madam Hooch's office since our last practice, and there was nothing wrong with them then..." said Wood, anxiously.

Then Harry got an odd gleam in his eye, one that the other Gryffindors recognized only too well. It was the kind of gleam that the Twins or Nico would get when they came up with a particularly good prank. "Oliver, do the rules actually say that only Beaters can carry the bats?"

Oliver thought about it before answering "Nooo, why?"

"Are there spare bats in the supply room?"

"Yeess, why?"

But Harry had already ran off to the supply room. When he came back, he had a Beater's bat slung around his left arm. "The only way I could catch the Snitch before is if it flew up my sleeve. This way, I can protect myself and the Twins can go and take care of the other Bludger. What do you say?"

Oliver just shrugged and allowed it. As soon as they took off, the Bludger was back after Harry, and he hit it away. Draco took note of it and called out "A very Slytherin move, Potter. I doubt any Gryffindor would have take advantage of that loophole, but a Slytherin definitely would have."

"Coming from you, Malfoy, I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should. Watch it!" he called out as the Bludger came back. As soon as he did that, he spotted the Snitch by Malfoy's elbow and flew after it. That started a long chase/race between him, Malfoy, the Bludger and the Snitch, passing dangerously close to the stadium before diving into the newly installed trench. However, when the Snitch rose out of the trench, Draco failed to pull up quickly enough and was thrown from his broom, while Harry's arm was broken by the Bludger, throwing _him_ off his broom, but in such a way that he still caught the Snitch, winning the game for Gryffindor.

However, just because the game was over, didn't mean that the Bludger was done going after Harry. It dived at him three times, twice nearly crushing his head, and the third time it nearly hit his crotch before Hermione and Nico blew it up. They were only the first of a number of people that rushed onto the field to help Harry, including Lockhart who offered to heal his arm. Nico had just turned his wand on Lockhart when the git spoke his spell: _Brackium Emendo._

Unfortunately, Lockhart's incompetence combined with Harry's usual luck turned it into a disaster as the spell _removed his bones_ instead of healing them. (As Lockhart's reward, Harry hit him hard with the bat, breaking his nose.) Madam Pomfrey naturally was very upset when they finally got him to the Hospital wing, insisting that they should have brought Harry straight to her. "Don't blame us, Ma'am. We tried to bring him, but Lockhart wouldn't let us go and caused this for all his trouble." Madam Pomfrey just shook her head and handed Harry a glass of Skele-Grow to drink.

That night, Nico changed into his animagus form and flew down to visit Harry, only to run into Dumbledore and McGonagall carrying something or someone to the Hospital Wing. It was Colin Creevey, a Muggleborn First Year Gryffindor that was completely obsessed with Harry, so much so that Harry often described him as a talkative shadow. When they arrived at the Hospital wing, McGonagall noticed he had his camera up to his face. "Look. Perhaps he managed to take a picture of his attacker." Unfortunately, the film had all turned to dust. "What can this mean, Albus?"

"It means that our students are in great danger."

"What should I tell the staff?"

"The truth. Tell them that Hogwarts is no longer safe. It is as we feared, Minerva. The Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened again." Again? This had happened before? Well, that put a whole new twist on things, and raised a whole new question: When was it opened before?

**A/N:** I know that Harry's temper seems worse in this than in the book, bur you have to remember that my Hogwarts sends the letters out one year later than in canon, making Harry's current age thirteen, the age that his temper really started showing itself in canon. When he was thirteen in canon, he blew up his aunt, nearly attacked Draco, and wanted to kill Sirius, all thanks to his temper. Also, there _are_ reasons for Harry and Draco's OOCness that _will_ be explained, eventually.


	11. Duels, Truths and Another Attack

**A/N:** Once again, I don't own anything in this that you don't recognize. Also, I unfortunately don't own Nico's nickname for Lockhart. I wish I did, but I found it in someone else's story. Unfortunately, I can't remember the author's name or their story, I just remember that it's a 'reading the books' story.

**Altered Fates**

**Part Two: Heir of Slytherin**

**Chapter Four: Duels, Truths and Another Attack**

The next morning, the four friends went to Myrtle's toilet to start working on the Polyjuice Potion while waiting for Harry. In the meantime, Nico explained what he'd overheard that night. Neville was convinced that it meant that Lucius had opened the Chamber the first time, and now Draco knew as well. After Harry showed up, they found out why they were perfectly safe in brewing the potion there, as Myrtle showed up. Before she disappeared, Nico pulled out his Ghost Book (a diary of sorts listing how all the Hogwarts ghosts had died.) When he found he didn't have a cause of death for Myrtle, he asked her "How did you die?"

Hermione stared at him in shock, as did Myrtle and Ron. Harry and Neville were the only other people who knew about the Ghost Book. "Why do you want to know?" Myrtle asked.

"I'm writing down how all the Hogwarts ghosts died. I haven't asked you yet, and you're here, so why not tell us?"

"Ooooh, it was dreadful," she said with relish. "It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then —" Myrtle swelled importantly, her face shining. "I died."

"How?"

"No idea," said Myrtle in hushed tones. "I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away…" Big yellow eyes, and a boy speaking another language? Could it possibly have something to do with the Chamber?

"Myrtle, how long ago was this?"

"Oh, about sixty years. It was just a few weeks before something people called D-Day." Well, now the only question was when did the Chamber open. If it was opened in 1944, then it was possible they had found the Chamber and how to open it.

Three week after Colin's petrification, it was announced that a duelling club was being set up. During that intervening week, the First Years had taken to travelling in groups while a black market trade in protective talismans and amulets sprang up, though they were all fakes. Also, Harry and Hermione had caused an incident in Potions allowing Mione to steal the few ingredients that they needed for Polyjuice that they couldn't get themselves. The method that they went about it made the prankster in Nico swell with pride, as they had tossed a rocket into Malfoy's swelling potion, causing it to explode over everyone in the vicinity.

Everyone was naturally excited about the possibility of a Duelling Club and quickly gathered in the large classroom set aside just for that purpose. Everyone hoped that Professor Flitwick would be the one leading it, as there were rumours claiming that he was a master Duellist. When they arrived, however, they found Lockhart and Professor Snape in charge. Somehow, Idiockhart (Nico's new nickname for their DADA teacher-a combination of idiot and Lockhart) seemed to think that he had a chance to beat Snape so thoroughly that he claimed that they would still have their Potions Master when he was through. Personally, Nico was hoping that Snape would kill the idiot and save them all a lot of trouble. Once the introductions were done, the demonstration duel began. The two combatants brought their wands up in a salute, bowed slightly, then took five steps each before turning on each other. Idiockhart then counted to three, on which Snape immediately shouted out _Expelliarmus!_ To Nico's practiced eye, it was obvious Snape put a lot of power into the Disarming spell, as not only was Idiockhart disarmed, but he was also thrown into the wall. "Do you think he's all right?" Mione asked

"Don't worry, Mione. _Expelliarmus_ can't do much damage, unfortunately. And why are you still defending him? His classes are all about promoting himself, he thinks _pixies_ are dangerous, and he can't even cast a proper healing spell. He has got to be a complete fake." Mione, as usual, had to bow to Nico's logic.

Idiockhart decided he'd been humiliated enough, so he split the students into pairs and had them duel. But before starting his own duel with his acquaintance/friend Theodore Nott, Nico turned to Professor Snape and asked "What's a good shielding spell, Professor?"

Snape turned to him and asked "Why are you asking me?"

"Well, do you see any other teachers here, Professor?"

"And what about Mr. Lockhart?"

"Like I said, do you see any other _teachers_ here?"

"Well, in that case, the best one would be _Protego_. It should be simple enough for even a First Year to cast it." Nico thanked Snape, passed on the knowledge to Neville, and then joined Nott. Unfortunately, Ted proved to be a novice at duelling, and Nico beat him with a quick _Expelliarmus_ and _Stupefy_. When Idiockhart called for a stop, Nico quickly revived him with _E__nnervate_. Lockhart then called for a volunteer pair to demonstrate how to block unfriendly spells, naming Ron and Harry as his preferred pair. "Weasley's wand causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox. Might I suggest someone from my own house? Malfoy, perhaps?" Even Lockhart wasn't so much of an idiot to have not seen the rivalry between the two, but there was no reason to keep the two apart. In any case, those who knew about the duel that was supposed to have happened the previous year (i.e. Nico, Neville and the Trio) were looking forward to seeing how this played out.

The pair saluted each other, and greeted each other in their usual, 'friendly' manner. "Scared, Potter?"

"You wish." Everyone could tell just from those four words that this would be a good duel to watch. Idiockhart insisted that the duo use _only_ disarming spells in order to prevent accidents, but everyone knew there was no chance of that happening. When Lockhart hit two in his countdown, Malfoy hit Harry with _Everte Statum_, the hurling hex. When Harry got up, he hit Malfoy with _Rictusempra_, the tickling jinx. Snape was furious with Malfoy, and once he'd ended the jinx, he picked Malfoy up by the collar and threw him back in. Then Malfoy cast the spell that truly changed the game: _Serpensortia_, a spell that summoned a king cobra. Snape was going to get rid of it, but once again Idiockhart intervened to create a disaster, casting _Alarte Ascendare_, a spell that sent the snake flying into the air before it fell back down and came after Nico. Nico stood there, entranced by the snake's deadly beauty and almost didn't notice Harry speaking to the snake in a language that was most definitely _not_ English. After getting over his shock at hearing Harry, Snape burned the snake to a crisp. Ron immediately grabbed Harry and pulled him out of the room, with Mione, Neville and Nico quickly following, Snape staring after Harry in shock.

"You're a Parselmouth? Why didn't you tell us?" Ron demanded. To Nico and Neville's surprise, it almost sounded like Ron was _jealous_ of Harry's ability.

"I'm a what?"

"It means you can talk to snakes, Harry," Mione explained.

"I know. I mean, I accidentally set a python on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once. Once, but so what? I bet loads of people here can do it."

"Unfortunately not, Harry. Nico and I discovered that it's not a very common gift. It could get very ugly."

"How, Neville? If I hadn't told that snake not to attack Nico, he might be eligible for the Headless Hunt!"

"So, that's what you told it! Thanks for that, by the way."

"You were there, you heard me."

"We heard you speaking Parseltongue. Snake language," Ron explained. Once again, the jealousy was clear in his voice.

"I spoke a different language? But I didn't realize . . . How can I speak a language without knowing I can?"

"Who knows? But we may have a problem," Nico said. "There's a reason the Slytherin's symbol is a snake. Salazar was a Parselmouth, so it's a possibility that the rest of the school is going to think you're his descendant, and Heir."

"You guys believe I'm not, right?"

Neville was the first to speak up. "No matter what, Harry, I'm going to believe you. If you say that you're not the Heir of Slytherin, then that's good enough for me. Hell, after last year, I'd probably believe you if you said that the sun rose in the west!" The other two also agreed that they trusted Harry completely, although Ron was a little slow to say so.

Nico said something completely different. "Who cares if you're a Parselmouth, I think it's really cool!"

Over the next week, Harry quickly became a pariah at the school, with only the Quidditch team and his three friends sticking by him. Nico grew so tired of Harry's treatment that he immediately hunted down two of the few students that could help out with the situation: Cedric and Romulus. He quickly found them in the Great Hall, studying. "Guys, I need your help. What do you need in order to convince the other students that Harry isn't the Heir of Slytherin?"

Cedric and Romulus turned to each other, and then back at Nico. "Well, an explanation for where he was when Ms Norris and Creevey were attacked, and an explanation as to how he survived the Killing Curse. Those seem to be the main arguments against him," Romulus answered.

"That's easy. He was in detention when that cat was petrified, and in the Hospital wing when Colin was attacked. As to how he survived, Dumbledore says it was because his mother sacrificed herself to save him. And then think of this: Harry's mother is a Muggleborn as is one of his best friends. Harry doesn't care one bit about blood status or whether people can use magic or not. Hermione is his best friend and a Muggleborn, while Draco Malfoy, a pureblood, is his worst enemy. Also, wouldn't Slytherin's Heir be sorted into Slytherin? Besides that, we've been trying to figure out who it is ourselves, and our main suspect is Malfoy."

"Thanks, that should help, assuming he isn't caught near another attack again. By the way, could we talk, alone?" Cedric asked. Nico readily agreed and Cedric led his little brother to the seventh floor opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls ballet. Nico was a little worried about his brother's sanity when he passed in front of a section of the wall three times, until a door appeared out of nowhere. Cedric opened the door to reveal a small, comfortable room that resembled one of the common rooms. "Welcome to the Room of Requirement, Nico." Nico immediately sat on one of the sofas, while Cedric paced around the room, apparently gathering up his nerve. "Nico, you consider me your brother, right?"

"What sort of question is that? Of course we're brothers, brothers in every way except blood."

"Brothers, no matter what?"

"No matter what. Even if you turned out to be a Death Eater, we'd still be brothers. I'd be very upset with you, but we'd still be brothers. Why?"

"Well, I've got a bit of a personal secret, and I'm a little worried about how you'll take it." He paused for a moment, regathering his courage, and then said "I'm gay, Nico."

Nico was stunned. Whatever he'd been expecting, it definitely wasn't that! "Wow, that must have taken quite a lot to tell me, bro. Does Dad know?" After the death of Eric Grace the previous year, Nico had come to consider the Diggory's as his true family, and talked about them as such.

"No, not yet, you're the first person I've told. I know he won't mind though. Fortunately, the wizarding world is for the most part very accepting of gay wizards and witches. The only problem is when pureblood heirs are gay. I am worried about what he'll say when I tell him who I fancy though."

"Hold on, I'm the first person you've told and yet you already have a boyfriend?"

Cedric smiled at that. "No, not a boyfriend, more of a crush. Problem is that he's two years younger than me and in a different House. Besides that, pretty much everyone has a crush on him."

That gave it away. "Wait a minute, you mean Harry? You've got a crush on _Harry_?" Nico could hardly believe it. His big brother had a crush on his best friend! If it weren't for the fact that it would probably hurt Cedric's feelings, he'd have probably laughed at the situation.

"Yeah, ever since I saw him at the Sorting Ceremony last year. He passed right by me, and ever since, I've had a major crush on him."

"Bloody hell. Are you telling me that you've had a crush on my best friend since before you knew who he was?"

"Well, yeah. And after everything you told me about last year, it's just made me fall even harder for him." That gave Nico some food for thought. He knew that Harry hated people liking him just for his fame, so maybe this would be a good thing for him. Nico immediately started wondering if there was a chance that Harry could possibly be gay as well, and if so, possibly attracted to Cedric.

A few days after the meeting in the Room of Requirement, Nico and Harry had just had a short meeting with Hagrid and were now walking to their common room when Harry said he heard something inside the walls. Nico followed Harry, until it landed them in front of the worst sight yet: Sir Nicholas and Justin Finch-Fletchley had both been attacked by Slytherin's monster. They were both lying down, with Nick about fifteen cm (six inches) over Justin, both of them petrified, and Nick's head was halfway off. To make things worse, Peeves was the first to find them, followed quickly by Filch and Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff Second Year who was convinced that Harry was the Heir. Peeves immediately came up with a tune and started singing "Oh, Potter, you rotter, oh, what have you done, You're killing off students, you think it's good fun —" Fortunately Professor McGonagall quickly found them and took them both to Dumbledore's office, where he would decide what would happen to them.


	12. Polyjuiced and the Diary

**Altered Fates**

**Part Two: Heir of Slytherin**

**Chapter Five: Polyjuiced and The Diary**

Inside Dumbledore's office, they found literally dozens of portraits, but the first thing that caught Harry's attention was the Sorting Hat, sitting on a shelf. "Bee in your bonnet, Potter?" it asked.

"I was just wondering if you put me in the right House." Harry had been worried about that ever since he learned he was a Parseltongue, and Ron's constant suggestions that he should be resorted into Slytherin didn't help at all.

"Yes, you were particularly difficult to place. But I stand by what I said last year: You would have done well in Slytherin, unlike your friend."

Harry turned to Nico and asked "What does it mean by that?"

"Oh, the Hat thought about putting me in Slytherin, but apparently I'm too trusting for Salazar's House," Nico answered absentmindedly. He was more interested in the red and gold bird perched on Dumbledore's desk. It appeared to be a very old bird, as quite a few feathers had fallen off. In fact, the bird kind of resembled a half-plucked turkey! Then, as they watched, the bird burst into flames and was quickly incinerated. "Amazing. How did Dumbledore get one of those?"

"From my old friend, Nicolas Flamel." The pair whirled around to find Dumbledore on the next level of the office. Harry was so panicked that he thought Dumbledore might blame him for what happened to the bird and tried to explain what happened. "Ah, it's about time. He's been looking dreadful for days, I've been telling him to get a move on. Pity you had to see Fawkes on a burning day."

Harry looked completely lost, so Nico explained "Fawkes is obviously a phoenix, Harry. A bird that is just about immortal. Whenever it gets old, it bursts into flame and is reborn from the ashes."

"Indeed, Mr Grace." Just then, the reborn Fawkes' head poked out from the ashes. "Fascinating creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads, and their tears have healing powers." Just then, Hagrid burst into the room, still carrying the dead rooster, insisting that it wasn't Harry and that Hagrid could provide an alibi for him. "Hagrid, I don't believe-" but Hagrid just kept talking.

"He doesn't think it's me? Then why are we here?"

Nico thought for a moment, then replied "It's probably because he thinks you have some information that might help."

"Do you think I should tell him about the voices?"

"I would. It may not be a good sign in either world, but I don't think it means you're going crazy. Hell, all it probably means is that the creature is a snake."

Once Hagrid had left, Dumbledore asked Harry if he had something that Harry wished to tell him, and Harry reluctantly told him about the voice that he'd been hearing just before the attacks.

"Ah, that does help. And you were right, Mr Grace, I do believe that it has something to do with the fact that Harry is a Parselmouth. Now, I do believe that it is nearly curfew. You two had better get back to your dorm." On their way back, Nico started thinking about something that he was sure would help ease Harry's nerve, if he was willing to try it.

* * *

><p>The next month was pure torture for Harry, as all the work Cedric and Rom had put towards clearing Harry's name was nulled, and Ron started distancing himself from Harry, sometimes disappearing for hours at a time. Fortunately the twins still found the claim ridiculous and made a joke out of it. They often walked in front of Harry calling out "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through…" Nico joined in on the joke, asking Harry loudly "So, who's your next target, my lord?"<p>

Harry caught on to what they were doing and said, "Didn't I make it obvious? You are! You have become so annoying that I'm sending the beast after you!" Harry just barely kept his face straight while saying that, but everyone else who heard it burst into laughter.

Whenever he wasn't joking around with Harry and the twins, or working on homework and the continuing pranks against Lockhart, Nico was working on his Christmas present for Harry in the Room of Requirement. He had just put the final touches on it and joined the feast when Hermione showed up, saying that the Polyjuice Potion was ready. "Umm, Mione? You have noticed that there's not many Slytherins here, right? And only Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle in our year, right? I think only Harry and Ron should do this."

"And what are you going to do?"

"I'll just follow them. I have a way to do that without people noticing me, or paying attention if they do see me. Now, you better get going and I'll meet you in Myrtle's bathroom."

Then Harry noticed something. "Hey, where's Neville? He's usually with you all the time, where is he now?"

"Apparently Nev always spends Christmas at home. I don't know why, but I've got the strangest feeling that Christmas is the only time he sees his parents."

Nico finished eating and then grabbed Harry's invisibility cloak and ran to Myrtle's bathroom, where he found Harry and Ron already changed into Crabbe and Goyle, but Mione was nowhere to be seen. Ron took the lead taking them straight to the Slytherin common room, not that he saw Nico under the cloak. _By Merlin, how did Ron know where to go?_ Even stranger things happened when they ran into Malfoy, as Ron immediately started acting like one of the pureblood fanatics. When Malfoy presented an article about Arthur Weasley being faced with an inquiry about the flying car, Ron immediately burst out laughing, and when Draco said that Dumbledore was the worst thing that happened to Hogwarts, Ron said "Who couldn't do better than that barmy old codger? I bet even that old cat could do better than him!" Nico and Harry stared at him in shock. Why was he siding with Malfoy on everything, even when it involved his family?

The only good things that came out of that interview was the fact that they learned that Malfoy was _not_ the Heir of Slytherin, it happened 60 years ago, and that the Malfoy's had a secret chamber under the drawing room floor. Malfoy also acted a little weird during some of the questioning. Every so often, he would look nervously at the other Slytherins, who Nico quickly noticed were all pureblood fanatics, and he would speak loud enough for them to hear everything derisive he said. This did _not_ seem like the Draco Malfoy that Harry and Nico had started to see over First Year. It almost seemed like he was _scared_. But even so, he still spoke loud enough for the entire Common Room to hear "Last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood _died._ So I bet it's only a matter of time before one of them's killed this time ... I hope it's Granger." And again he flinched when he said Mudblood and claimed he wanted Hermione dead. What was going on in Slytherin House?When they got back to Myrtle's bathroom, they found that Mione had gone ahead and taken the potion, but she accidentally put cat hair in hers. While they were sneaking her to the Hospital wing under the invisibility cloak, Nico said "Well, I guess this would be a bad time to mention my Christmas present for you, Harry."

"What is it? And why would this be a bad time?"

"Because my Christmas present is a potion to reveal your Animagus form."

"You made me a potion for a Christmas present? Gee, thanks. Makes me even more certain that you'd be next if I was the Heir."

"I knew you wouldn't like it at first, but wait and hear me out. Back when our parents were here as students, your dad and his best friends were Animagi-magicians that could change into animals. I thought you'd like to have another connection to your dad."

Harry froze in shock at that information and moved to tears that Nico knew how much he wanted to know his dad. "What was my dad's form?"

Nico smiled and said "A stag, his friends called him Prongs. You saw my dad's form last year in the Dark Forest. Our parent's best friend was a giant black dog that was mistaken as a Grim-an omen of death."

"But why would they risk doing it so young?" Mione asked.

"Because their best friend was a werewolf, and they wanted to help him out. Fortunately animals are immune to the lycanthropy virus, so they became Animagi."

"Well, could we take it too? I mean, doing this would help with our schoolwork, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, an Animagus transformation is basically self-transfiguration, so doing this will help with McGonagall's classes. She actually covers Animagi in Third Year."

"That's why you're so good at it, isn't it? You're an animagus already," Harry said.

"Yeah, I am. Have been for a couple of years. So, you up to it? I've actually got enough for all four of us, including Neville when he gets back." They readily agreed, and the next morning, they took the potion. Harry was revealed as a phoenix and oddly enough, Ron was a weasel. Mione decided to wait until she'd recovered from the Polyjuice Potion before finding her own out. In the meantime, Harry wrote to Gringott's and had them anonymously transfer 50 galleons to the Weasley family in order to pay the fine for the flying car. He also wrote to Arthur Weasley and let him know about a hidden chamber under the drawing room floor.

* * *

><p>A month after the interrogation, the four friends had just left from visiting Mione when they noticed Myrtle had flooded her bathroom again. Curious to see what made her so upset, they went in to see her, and found that someone had thrown a diary into her toilet. According to the cover, it was from 1944 and belonged to one T M Riddle, and that was everything the diary had to say for itself. "Myrtle, do you know who this Riddle person is? The diary is from your time."<p>

"Yeah, I know who he is. Tom Marvolo Riddle. A very handsome Slytherin, he was the Slytherin Fifth Year Prefect when I died. You know, you look a lot like him, Harry." Harry blushed at that, and pocketed the diary. When Mione got out of the Hospital a week later, she was very excited when she found out about the diary, but nothing they did could make it reveal it's secrets, while her animagus form was revealed as a barn owl and Neville's was a cougar.

* * *

><p>Valentine's Day brought the biggest Idiockhart disaster ever: he thought everyone needed a morale-booster after all the attacks, so he decorated the Great Hall for the holiday, dressed dwarves up as Cupid, and told everyone to see Snape for love potions and Flitwick to learn how to do entrancing charms, much to their embarrassment. Nico went up to the teacher's table and whispered to Snape "Don't you know any poisons you could use on Lockhart that would make it look like he died a natural death?"<p>

"Unfortunately no, Mr Grace. If I did, I'd have done so long before now and you'd have had a competent Defence Teacher by now."

"I assume you're talking about yourself?" Snape nodded. "Well, if what Percy says about you is true, I'm looking forward to it. Oh, and if I were you, I'd get out of here quickly, Professor." Snape stared at him, until Nico gave the twins a prearranged signal, and their most public hit against Idiockhart began. Over Christmas break, the twins had been collecting Cornish Pixies and at the signal, unleashed all sixty of them at the same time in the Great Hall. The pandemonium was easily twenty times worse than Lockhart's first Defence class. However, the pandemonium was well served as it led to the diary's secret being revealed. One of the pixies spilled a bottle of ink onto the diary, and the diary just absorbed it.

That night, Harry decided to write in the diary while Nico was going to relieve some of his tension by trying to use Riddle's name as an anagram. Ron, Neville and Hermione on the other hand were a little tired of working with the diary, so they went to play a game. First he wrote out the full name: _Tom Marvolo Riddle_ and pulled out the one letter that obviously made a word: _I _That left _Tom Marvolo Rddle_. The next word was another obvious: _Am._ Nico now had _I Am_ and _Tom rvolo Rddle_. Another obvious word: _Lord_.

_I Am Lord_, _Tom rvo dle._ The French word for death was there, creating the phrase _I Am Lord Mort_ and leaving only _vo dle_. Then Nico saw it, the true origin of the name everyone feared: _Tom Marvolo Riddle_ easily became_ I Am Lord Voldemort_! The diary belonged to a teenage Voldemort! "HARRY!" But Harry was nowhere to be seen, and the diary was open. A few minutes later, Harry reappeared, saying that Hagrid was the one that set the monster loose. "Harry, I wouldn't trust anything to do with that diary if I were you."

"And why not? Memories can't be faked."

"Yeah, but they can be misleading or not give you all the pertinent information. Besides, that diary belonged to Voldemort!"

**A/N:** A quick explanation for the Animagus forms, as I truly believe that they represent a person's character. Nico's form of a Golden Eagle means: strength, courage, intelligence, an ability to see hidden truths, and clear vision, as well as 'retrieves lost soul parts' a clear reference to Horcruxes! Harry's phoenix form means: death and rebirth, and renewed life. Hermione's barn owl is of course, wisdom but also death of the old order and embracing the world. Ron as a weasel is a reference to Draco's nickname for him and means: stealth, cunning, revenge, fearless and tenacious (the first two are extremely important to Ron's future in this story. Hint hint!) Cougar's represent: gaining self-confidence, courage, strength, power, nobility, leadership, action and patience among others. Speaking of Neville, I know that he is acting out of character, but in this, Neville has a lot more confidence in this reality. Between Nico's quick friendship, the mutual tutoring, his high scores in the First Year exams, and the Howler that Nico sent to Augusta, Neville is a lot more confidant in himself, thus revealing his Gryffindor traits far earlier than in canon.


	13. The Final Attack and Aragog

**A/N:** In this chapter, I'm going to be mentioning some electives that are definitely _not_ mentioned as possible subjects. Why? Because it is obvious from Rowling's text in PoA that there are MANY different electives possible at Hogwarts. I believe that Ron once mentions that Hermione's schedule has ten subjects a day, while it was possible for Tom Riddle to get 30 OWLs something that is not possible when you only have seven core classes and four electives (although Ron's statements are probably an exaggeration.) Also, there's the fact that Percy gets all twelve OWls and NEWTs without a time turner, and he's a prefect and Head Boy! Thus, thanks to a website that I cannot remember, I have provided three more electives and will probably mention others (thanks to Mione's time turner!)

**Altered Fates**

**Part Two: Heir of Slytherin**

**Chapter Six: The Final Attack and Aragog**

Harry was shocked at Nico's claim, but considered it and decided it was best to hold on to the diary no matter what. However, neither could focus on figuring out if the anagram was right as the Second Years were handed out lists of electives they had to take starting the next year. Dean Thomas signed up for random classes, Mione signed up for everything, while Nico and Neville decided to talk to McGonagall and ask her advice for classes. In the end, Neville signed up for Divination (against McGonagall's advice as he thought it might be fun,) Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes and Cursebreaking. Nico signed up for Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Cursebreaking, and Wandlore (against everyone's advice. Apparently Wandlore was actually one of the most difficult classes, including Snape's biased Potions class.) Harry decided to sign up for classes that his friends were taking: Care of Magical Creatures, Cursebreaking, Divination, Wizarding Studies (the polar opposite of Muggle Studies) and Ancient Runes (though Ron scowled at Harry choosing Cursebreaking, Wizarding Studies and Ancient Runes.)

A few weeks later, someone stole Voldemort's diary just before the second match of Gryffindor's season. Then, not five minutes before Harry was due at the locker room, Harry heard the voice again, and Mione ran for the library. Nico and Neville stared at each other. Was it possible that Hermione had figured out what they couldn't? A few minutes later, McGonagall came out onto the pitch, announcing that the match had been cancelled, and that everyone was to go back to their common room. Nico, Neville and Ron all went down to see what was going on, only to meet her and Harry as they were going to look for them. "There's been another attack, another _double_ attack. I warn you, this could be a wee bit of a shock." And there, lying on the hospital beds were a Sixth Year Ravenclaw, and Hermione. "They were found near the library, along with this," McGonagall said, showing them a small, circular mirror. "Does it mean anything to any of you?" None of them knew a thing about it, so McGonagall left them there. The four friends stayed there for several hours, until Madam Pomfrey kicked them out. That night, McGonagall came to Gryffindor tower to read out some new rules. "All students will return to their house common rooms by 6:00 every evening. All students will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No exceptions." She paused for a few seconds, and then continued. "I should tell you this: Unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught soon, it is likely the school will be closed."

The one good thing about that attack was the fact that nobody believed Harry was guilty anymore, as everyone knew how close he and Hermione were. For the four friends, they knew that they had to talk to Hagrid in order to find out the truth about what happened sixty years ago. That meant going to see him while under the invisibility cloak again. However, out of worry for Neville, they decided that only Ron and Harry would go. The last time they had gone wondering the castle with the cloak and not talked to Neville, they had lost 200 points and a detention inside the Dark Forest. But Nico was too worried about them to let the duo go on their own, so he immediately shifted to Goldie and flew down to Hagrid's and waited for them. He would regret doing so for a long time to come.

When Hagrid came out, he was carrying a crossbow. Harry had just asked about the Chamber of Secrets, when Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge arrived. "Bad business, Hagrid, very bad business. Had to come. Three attacks on Muggleborns, things have gone far enough. The Ministry's got to act." _Yeah, sure, __**six months**__ after the first attack, and five months since the first human was attacked!_ Nico thought. Dumbledore immediately defended Hagrid, but Fudge continued. "Albus, look, Hagrid's record is against him. I'm under a lot of pressure, I've got to take him, we have to be seen doing something." Have to be _seen_ doing something, not actually _doing_ something? It sounded to Nico like this man was more interested in keeping his job than doing what was right. And what made him wait so long?

Then things got worse as Lucius Malfoy showed up. "Already here, Fudge? Good." Hagrid demanded that he leave his home, but Lucius wasn't to be swayed. "Believe me, I take absolutely no pleasure being inside your . . . You call this a house? No. I simply called up the school and was told the headmaster was here. The other governors and I have decided it's time for you to step aside." Malfoy handed Dumbledore a scroll and said that it was an order of suspension.

Hagrid insisted that Dumbledore couldn't leave or things would only get worse. Dumbledore seemed to be taking it very coolly though. "Calm yourself, Hagrid. If the governors desire my removal, I will of course, step aside. However, you will find that I have only truly left the school when none here are loyal to me. Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." He seemed to be looking straight at Goldie when he said that, but Nico couldn't understand how he could.

Hagrid also seemed to be in the mood to drop hints, but he did it far less subtly. "If anyone wanted ter find some answers, all they'd have ter do would be ter follow the spiders. That'd lead 'em right. That's all I'm sayin'. Oh, and someone will need to feed Fang while I'm away."

As soon as the four left, Nico spotted some spiders heading out Hagrid's window, just as orderly as the spider's were when Ms Norris was attacked. He immediately flew to them and cried out, getting Harry and Ron's attention, and as he suspected, they left the hut to follow the spiders. Ron though seemed terrified of the idea, even to the point of asking "Why spiders? Why couldn't it have been 'follow the butterflies'?" By the time the trio returned to Hagrid's hut, Nico would be agreeing with that statement full heartedly.

As they got deeper and deeper into the forest, the spiders grew thicker on the ground, making it far easier to follow them. But the further they got, the more Nico became convinced that someone or some_thing_ was watching and following them. Eventually they came to a small clearing, where a booming voice called out "Who is it? Hagrid? Is that you?" Clearly whatever was speaking knew him and considered Hagrid a friend.

"We're friends of Hagrid's," Harry said. Then an enormous creature that Nico only just barely recognized as a large tarantula rose from the ground. But there was no way that this was an ordinary tarantula, this thing was literally the size of a house! Even it's small eyes were huge-at least the size of the boy's heads, with the larger ones probably the size of Goldie! It had to be an Acromantula, and Nico easily understood why there were so few wands made with a core that had anything to do with Acromantulas. Nico was terrified and immediately landed on Harry's shoulder. Once the Acromantula had fully revealed itself, Harry said "And you? You're Aragog, aren't you?"

"Yes. Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before."

"He's in trouble. Up at the school, there have been attacks. They think it's Hagrid. They think he opened the Chamber of Secrets, like before."

"That's a lie! Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets."

"Then you're not the monster?"

"No. The monster was born in the castle. I came to Hagrid from a distant land in the pocket of a traveller when I was an egg. When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness…"

"Then what did kill that girl sixty years ago?"

"We do not speak of it. It is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the beast moving about the school."

"But have you seen it?"

"I never saw any part of the castle but the box in which Hagrid kept me. The girl was discovered in a bathroom." Then Ron grabbed Harry's sleeve and pointed up. What they saw made Nico freeze in terror. The trees in the hollow were literally swarming with Acromantula. There were easily well over 400 spiders watching them closely, each of them at least as large as a horse, and usually bigger!

Harry wanted out of there immediately. "Well, thank you. It's been nice meeting you, but we need to go now."

"Go? I think not. My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid on my command, but I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friends of Hagrid." The Acromantula descended on them, intent on getting their first taste of human flesh. Nico was so terrified that he immediately changed back in order to protect himself better.

"Know any spells?" Ron asked.

"One, but it's not powerful enough for all of them."

"Where's Hermione when you need her?"

"She's in the Hospital wing, remember Ron? _Brisingr!_" The flames from the spell immediately forced the giant spiders back, and gave the trio a little bit of breathing room, saving them long enough for _a Ford Anglia?_ to save them. The car opened it's doors for them, and the three boys ran for the car before the Acromantula could get any closer. They had just got out of the hollow when another spider went after Ron. Fortunately Harry managed to use his spell, _Arania Exumai_, to save Ron, but the army of Acromantula continued after them. They eventually managed to fly the car out of the forest and land back in front of Hagrid's hut.

"Follow the spiders. Follow the spiders. If Hagrid ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill him! I mean, what was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out?" Ron demanded.

"We know one thing. Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets. You were right Nico, he was framed." They returned to the Gryffindor tower without incident, but the night did not pass peacefully, as Nico was tormented by nightmares about the Dark Forest and what lay within.


	14. The Heir of Slytherin

**A/N: **Just to warn you, most of the conversation between Riddle and Harry is taken word for word from either the book or movie, depending on what version I liked better. And please, **REVIEW!**

**Altered Fates**

**Part Two: Heir of Slytherin**

**Chapter Seven: The Heir of Slytherin**

A few weeks after facing Aragog, Nico and Harry had finally stopped having nightmares about the Acromantulas, and the four friends were visiting Hermione. Harry had brought her some fresh flowers, and was holding her hand when he noticed that she was holding something. Curious, he pulled it out and discovered a page from a library book. Why would Mione, bookworm extraordinaire, tear a page out of a library book? Then he read it, and all their questions were answered. "Guys, listen to this! 'Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land, none is more curious nor more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Snakes. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it."

"Of course! It all fits! Hagrid's dead roosters, how long it's been there, even Aragog's fear of the beast and how you can hear it! Nev, why didn't we figure this out sooner?"

"Simple Nico, we still have one problem. The basilisk _kills_ with it's glare, it doesn't petrify. Remember? That's why we figured it couldn't be that. Unless you have an idea, Harry."

Harry thought about that for a moment, and then saw the nearby window. "Because no one did look it in the eye. Not directly, at least. Colin saw it through his camera. Justin . . . Justin must have seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick. Nick got the full blast of it, but he's a ghost, he couldn't die again. And Hermione and the Ravenclaw had the mirror. I bet you anything she warned the first person she met to look around corners with a mirror first!" When Ron brought up Ms Norris and the fact that she didn't have a camera, mirror or ghost, Harry had a logical explanation as well. "The water. There was water on the floor that night from Myrtle's bathroom. She only saw the basilisk's reflection."

"But how could it get around?" Harry showed them the page, and sure enough, Mione had answered that as well. "Pipes? It's using the plumbing!" Ron said. The four immediately realized that Myrtle had to be the one who died last time, and were about to head to her bathroom when McGonagall's voice thundered through the school, insisting that all students return to their dorms immediately and all teachers go to the second-floor corridor.

The four boys quickly grabbed Harry's invisibility cloak and then rushed to the corridor, putting the cloak on as soon as they reached the corridor. They made it there just as McGonagall was saying "As you can see, the Heir of Slytherin has left another message." And so he had. This one read **HER SKELETON WILL LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOREVER.** "Our worst fear has been realized. A student has been taken by the monster into the Chamber itself! The students must be sent home. I'm afraid this is the end of Hogwarts."

"Who is it, Minerva?" Professor Sprout asked.

"Ginny Weasley." Ron paled at the name. It was his sister? Just then, Lockhart showed up, claiming that he had fallen asleep.

Snape looked surprisingly pleased when Lockhart showed up. The boys were confused until Snape started talking. "A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Your moment has come at last."

Realizing what Snape was doing, Flitwick joined in. "Yes, weren't you just saying last night that you've known all along where the Chamber of Secrets is and what lies inside?" Idiockhart visibly paled.

"I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you hadn't had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was arrested," said McGonagall. "Didn't you say that the whole affair had been bungled, and that you should have been given a free rein from the first? Well, we'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy. Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free rein at last."

Idiockhart seemed frozen for a few seconds, and then claimed that he'd be in his office 'getting ready.' None of the four friends believed him, especially after Snape said that "at least that gets him out of our hair," and rushed for Lockhart's office when the other teachers had left. Harry said that "Lockhart may be useless, but at least he's going to try and get into the Chamber. At least we can tell him what we know." But once they arrived there, they found Lockhart _packing_. "Are you going somewhere?" Harry demanded in a very accusing tone.

The git said he had an urgent call that he had to respond to. When Ron demanded to know what he was going to do about his sister, Lockhart said "Yes, well, as to that, most unfortunate. No one regrets more than I-"

"You're supposed to be the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, you can't just pack and leave!" Neville yelled.

"Well, I must say when I took the job, there was nothing in the job description about anything like this!"

"So you're going to take the coward's way and just run? And people wonder why Helga's House gets such a bad rep!" Nico said.

"And what about all that stuff you did in your books?" Harry asked.

"Books can be misleading."

"You wrote them!"

"My dear boy, do use your common sense! My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things."

Harry caught the key words there, and was furious. "You're a fraud! You've just been taking credit for what other wizards have done!"

"Is there anything you _can_ do?" Ron asked.

"Yes, now you mention it. I'm rather gifted with Memory Charms. Otherwise you see, all those wizards would have gone blabbing, and I'd never have sold another book." Nico thought that it was a very Slytherin plan, and if he didn't know why, he'd have thought that Lockhart was a former Snake (the main reason for him not being a former Slytherin was the fact that he loved fame too much for a Slytherin, who usually worked in the shadows.) He then started walking away, saying "In fact, I'm going to have to do the same to you." He pulled out his wand and turned it on the boys, but all four had pulled out their wands and turned them on him. Then Ron took the git's wand and threw it out the window.

Leaving Lockhart's office, the five went to Myrtle's bathroom. Harry went up to Myrtle and asked "When you told us how you died, you mentioned that the boy was standing near a sink. Could you point out which one?" Myrtle did so gladly, and the four friends examined it closely. Harry eventually found a snake carved into the faucet and Neville suggested he say something in Parseltongue to open it. The first time, Harry spoke English, but the second time, well, "Hey-sha-has-sa." The circle of sinks opened up, with the door sinking into the ground. After they pushed Lockhart into the hole (with Ron saying better Lockhart than them,) Harry turned to his friends. "Listen, it's only really necessary for me and Ron to go down. I want you two to wait here an hour and if we're not back by then, go and get someone and tell them what's going on."

Neville immediately looked down at his watch to note the exact time, but Nico wasn't having any of it. "Hold on, what do you mean only you and Ron need to go down? How could Ron help you against the basilisk? His wand's been backfiring all year, you need someone that has a working wand with you!" Unfortunately for Nico, Harry was quite stubborn and refused to let him go. The pair jumped down, but not before Myrtle offered to share her toilet with Harry if he died in the Chamber. Nico however, could be just as stubborn. "Neville, I'm going down there. Please stay up here and follow Harry's instructions."

"And why should I stay behind? I'm as much of a Gryffindor as you guys, why can't I come too?"

"Because someone needs to tell the teachers how to get to the Chamber in case we fail, Nev. Please, just listen to me."

"And what about you?"

"Me? Why, I fly of course." Nico then turned into Goldie and flew down the pipe until he heard a voice ahead saying "-at the sight of her mangled body. So, you first, Mr Potter. Say goodbye to your memories. _Obliviate!_" Nico arrived just in time to see Idiockhart get blasted into one of the cave walls. His impact, combined with the backfiring spell, caused the cave to shake, and Nico quickly flew towards Harry, just barely avoiding the cave-in. Weasley on the other hand was stuck on the other sided of the cave-in with Lockhart and was left with the task of clearing a path through the rubble while Nico and Harry continued on alone, again.

The two quickly found a large round plaque with a number of snakes carved into it. Harry said the opening phrase again and a new snake appeared, slithering along the edge of the plaque while also making the other snakes retract. When the new snake had gone in a complete circle, the plaque opened up, revealing it to be a door into the Chamber itself. Inside, there was a long walkway with snake statues on either side and a large bust of Salazar Slytherin at the end. The Chamber was apparently somewhere near the lake, as the floor was almost completely covered in water. Then the two friends saw Ginny, lying on the floor in front of Salazar. Harry ran to Ginny and attempted to wake her, while Nico looked around, and that was why he noticed the seventeen year old Slytherin that looked surprisingly like Harry before he said "She won't wake."

To Nico's surprise, Harry recognized him. "Tom. Tom Riddle. What do you mean, she won't wake? She's not-" WHAT? Tom Riddle? This was _not_ going to end well.

"She's still alive, but only just." That confused Nico. How could she be only just alive? What happened to her?

"Are you a ghost?" A bit of a silly question. Voldy was obviously not quite solid, but he was far more solid and colourful than a ghost.

"A memory, preserved in a diary for sixty years." Then while Harry continued to try and wake Ginny, Riddle _picked up Harry's wand_. Great, now Voldy had a wand and Harry didn't. Wait a minute, a memory? But that sounded like . . . Nah! It couldn't be that . . . could it?

"Tom, you've got to help me, there's a Basilisk. I don't know where it is, but it could come at any moment."

"No. It won't come until it's called. I've waited for this moment for a long time Harry Potter. For a chance to speak to you."

Harry noticed that Riddle had his wand, and immediately became suspicious. Maybe Nico had been right after all and it was Voldemort. "Give me my wand, Tom." Riddle said Harry wouldn't need it, and then Harry said "Listen, we've got to go. We have to save her."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Harry. You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger."

"How did it happen?"

"Well, that's an interesting question," said Riddle pleasantly. "And quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger. My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months, pouring her heart and soul into it while I wrote back." Pouring her _soul_ into the diary? Bloody hell, it _was_ a Horcrux! And Myrtle was the murder that he used to split his soul in order to create it. And while Nico was processing this, Riddle kept going. "So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted… I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her. Yes, Harry, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets." Harry tried to deny it, but Riddle kept going. "It was Ginny who set the Basilisk on the Mudbloods and the Squib's cat. Ginny who wrote the threatening messages on the walls and killed the oaf's roosters."

Huh? But Ginny wasn't a Parseltongue, was she? Harry asked "But why?"

"Because I told her to. You'll find I can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she was doing. You see, when I poured enough of my soul into her, I began to take over. It took her a long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary, but eventually its power began to scare her and she tried to dispose of it in the girl's bathroom. And then, who should find it but you? The very person I was most anxious to meet." Pour some of his soul into her? That confirmed it, the diary was definitely a Horcrux.

"And why did you want to meet me?" Nico trilled his support at the question. He too wanted to know why the young Voldemort wanted to meet Harry. After all, it's not like he'd know who Harry was, right?

"I knew I had to talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my capture of that brainless oaf Hagrid to gain your trust."

"Hagrid's my friend! And you framed him, didn't you? And here I thought that you'd just made an honest mistake."

"It was my word against Hagrid's. Well, you can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student… on the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls… but I admit, even I was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought someone must realize that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin, especially considering he was a lousy Gryffindor. It had taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance… as though Hagrid had the brains, or the power! Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed… Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did…"

"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," said Harry with a smile on his face.

Riddle was annoyed at that. "He certainly kept an annoyingly close eye on me after that! I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school, and I wasn't going to waste all the time I spent searching for it. Thus I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my seventeen-year-old self in its pages so that one day I would be able to lead another in my footsteps and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Well, you haven't even scratched the surface this time. No one's died and in a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be ready, and everyone who was petrified will be alright again." Nico heard a light hiss after Harry said that, and it seemed to come from Slytherin's mouth. Worried, he flew up to the top of his head in order to watch the entire Chamber for the King of Snakes.

While he was flying, Riddle spoke up again. "Haven't I told you? Killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target . . . has been you. When I found out Ginny had the diary again, I was furious and punished her. Once I had calmed down, I realized that I had to find some way to get you to meet me, so I staged this last 'attack' in order to lure you to me. I knew that if someone close to you was attacked, there would be nothing that could stop you from solving this mystery. Now, I have a mystery of my own to solve: How is it that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

"Why do you care how I escaped? Voldemort was after your time, unless _you_ are Voldemort."

"So, you guessed my secret. Yes, Harry, Voldemort is my past, present, and future. You didn't think that I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever, did you? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No, I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew that one day all wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I became the most powerful sorcerer in the world!"

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Harry defended. "Sorry to disappoint you, but everyone says that Dumbledore is the greatest wizard in the world. Even when you were at the height of your power, you didn't dare try to take the school for fear of Dumbledore."

Riddle was furious. "Dumbledore was driven out of the school by the mere _memory_ of me!"

"He'll never be gone. Not so long as those who remain are loyal to him." Then a beautiful trilling sound was heard, and all three wizards spotted a healthy, fully grown Fawkes fly in, carrying . . . the _Sorting Hat?_ The mythical bird dropped the Hat at Harry's feet and then flew off. Both Riddle and Harry stared at the Hat in confusion. Why would Fawkes bring Harry that ratty old thing?

"So, this is what Dumbledore sends his great defender: a songbird and an old hat. And here I thought you might prove to be a challenge. Oh well, to business. Twice in your past and my future we have met, and twice I have failed to kill you. How did you survive? The longer you talk, the longer you stay alive."

Harry thought fast and decided to answer him immediately. Taking a long time would help Riddle and possibly lead to Ginny's death and his. So, the sooner this fight started, the better. "No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me," said Harry abruptly. "I don't know myself. But I know why you couldn't kill me. Because my mother died to save me. My common Muggle-born mother," he added, shaking with suppressed rage. "She stopped you from killing me. And I've seen the real you, I saw you last year. You're a wreck. You're barely alive, less than a ghost. That's where all your power got you. You're in hiding. You're ugly, you're foul —"

Riddle's face contorted. Then he forced it into an awful smile. "So. Your mother died to save you. Yes, that's a powerful countercharm. I can see now… there is nothing special about you, after all. I wondered, you see. There are strange likenesses between us, after all. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even look something alike… but after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. That's all I wanted to know. So, let us match the power of Lord Voldemort, heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the great Harry Potter and the best weapons Dumbledore can provide him."

Then Riddle spoke in Parseltongue at the statue of Salazar, releasing the Basilisk, while Harry asked the Hat "What are you supposed to do here? I need help!" While the mouth of Salazar opened up, a jewelled handle to something appeared at the base of the Hat. When Harry grabbed it, it was revealed to be the hilt of an amazingly beautiful sword. He was about to turn to Riddle, but he noticed a slight hint of movement and turned to run. Nico, from his perch on top of Salazar's head spotted the Basilisk coming out of the mouth of the bust and chasing Harry down. Determined to protect his friend (especially considering Harry had dropped the sword in fear,) Nico took off and flew at the enormous monster's head and used his talons to peck out the left eye. He was about to move on to the other eye when he noticed that Fawkes had returned and already took care of it, so he took out the basilisk's nose.

"NO!" Riddle shouted. "Your birds may have blinded the Basilisk, but it can still hear you." Nico thought about changing back to his human body, but realized that there was no way any of the spells he knew could possibly do much damage to the King of Snakes, especially one this big. Basilisk skin was well known for its toughness, even dragon skin couldn't compare. And then there was the size of this one. It was easily two and a half meters (10 feet) thick and a good 76 meters (250 ft) long. Harry on the other hand could only run from the snake and hide in some of the pipes that surrounded the Chamber. He managed to lose the Basilisk in the plumbing and ran back to Ginny. Unfortunately the Basilisk found him again, so Harry picked up the sword again and climbed Salazar's bust. Once at the top, he started slashing the sword at the giant snake. Nico rejoined the fight, deciding that anything he could do would increase Harry's chance of survival, so he started slashing his talons at its head. Then, disaster struck. Harry had dropped the sword, and the Basilisk made to bite him. Harry managed to grab the sword in time to use it to kill the basilisk, but it also hit Goldie in the chest, while Harry was bitten by one of the Basilisk's fangs. Riddle radiated a cold fury.

When Harry pulled the sword out of the Basilisk's head, the fang stuck, and he carried it down the bust along with Goldie and the sword. Nico was in tremendous pain. The sword had gone straight through his right lung and only just barely missed his heart. To make things worse, it felt like the blade had been doused in Basilisk venom. Once Harry got to Ginny's body, he dropped both the sword and Goldie, who immediately changed back to Nico, hoping against hope that it would buy him some time. "So ends the famous Harry Potter," said Riddle's distant voice. "Defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be with your Mudblood mother soon. She bought you thirteen years of borrowed time, but Lord Voldemort killed you in the end. Funny, the damage a silly little book can do, especially in the hands of a silly little girl."

Nico grabbed Harry's hand and said "The fang, stab the diary with it, Harry. Stab it and Riddle will be gone." One of the things Nico had made sure to remember was how to destroy a Horcrux if he ever ran across one, and Basilisk venom was one of the few ways to do that. Harry didn't know why, but he decided to do what Nico suggested.

"What are you doing?" Riddle asked as Harry opened the diary. "Stop. NO!" Riddle shouted, but it was too late. Harry stabbed the diary and a light started shining through Riddle's chest as the diary bled ink. Harry stabbed the other side and the light started shining from Riddle's face. He then closed the diary and stabbed it one more time and Riddle was destroyed. As Riddle 'died,' Ginny Weasley woke up and started confessing everything.

Harry on the other hand just wanted Ginny to get out and leave him and Nico to die in peace. Fawkes had other ideas though. He landed in front of the two boys and then cried over their wounds, first healing Nico and then moving on to Harry. They started to go back through the Chamber (with Harry carrying the sword, Basilisk fang and diary while Fawkes was perched on Nico's shoulder,) when Harry turned to Nico and said "What are you doing down here? I thought I asked you to stay up top with Neville."

"Yeah, well, last time if it wasn't for me, you'd have faced Voldemort on your own. I wasn't going to risk that again, and it's a good thing too."

"Yeah, but I almost killed you! What if Fawkes didn't come or if he hadn't chosen to heal you, what then?"

"Harry, stop being such a pessimist! Everything's worked out for the best. Now, let's pick up Lockhart and Ron then we can go back and let Nev vent for a little while. Knowing him, he's going to be _furious_ if he ever hears how close we came to dying." Harry grimaced at that. Though it wasn't well known, Neville had quite the temper at times, but it was always for a good reason. It really hadn't surprised any of the four friends when Neville's Animagus form was revealed to be a cougar.

Once they made it past the rock barrier, Ron quickly pulled his sister into what was surely a bone-crushing hug, while he was amazed that they came our with Fawkes and the sword, and the fact that Nico was there at all (which he clearly demonstrated with a glare.) Just then, Lockhart woke up and said "Hello. Who are you?"

Ron stared at him in shock and said "Ron Weasley."

"Really? And who am I?" They all just stared at him in shock, and then started laughing. Lockhart, master of Memory Charms, impaled on his own sword thanks to a backfiring wand! "It's an odd sort of place, isn't it? Do you live here?"

Nico turned and glared at him, saying "Yeah, why? Are you calling my home odd? What has my home ever done to you?" The others stared at him in amazement. "What? Technically this _is_ part of Hogwarts, and I've considered Hogwarts as home since I got here. Now let's get out of here." Ron, Harry, Lockhart and Ginny all grabbed onto each other, with Harry holding onto Fawkes, and the phoenix flew out of the Chamber, but not before Nico took a rock and made sure that there would be no chance of Lockhart winning a sixth Most Charming Smile award from _Witch Weekly_.


	15. Truths, Freedom and Reunions

**Altered Fates**

**Part Two: Heir of Slytherin**

**Chapter Eight: Truths, Freedom and Reunions**

Once they got back to Myrtle's bathroom, they did indeed face a furious Neville, especially considering they missed the hour deadline by a mere three minutes, but he was also ecstatic that they had come back alive. He was leading them to Dumbledore's office when he said something that made Harry very upset. "Next time you have one of these adventures, you are _not_ leaving me behind. I'm going to go with you no matter what!"

"No way, Neville! Don't you realize how dangerous hanging around me is? Nico nearly died down there and I've nearly died three times because of my meddling just from Voldemort, and I am _not_ going to risk another friend."

"I know the risks, Harry, but you aren't getting rid of me. I can be just as stubborn as you, and I'm your friend. I'm going to stick by you until one of us dies, and there's nothing you can do to convince me otherwise."

Harry reluctantly conceded just before they entered the office, where Mr and Mrs Weasley were waiting, along with Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall. When they saw Ginny back, safe and sound, the Weasleys ran to her and gave her a bone-crushing hug, while McGonagall asked how they had saved her. Over the next two hours, the four friends told the story of how they investigated the Chamber and searched for the Heir, including what happened inside the Chamber. What nobody knew was that while Harry was telling his story, the Basilisk venom continued to course through him. Fawkes' tears had cured him of the poison in his veins, but the venom continued to spread, making small, subtle changes. A block on his abilities was being destroyed, his eyes were being altered, and his body strengthened. However, the venom could not destroy one thing that weakened Harry: a small, near-insignificant section of black rot centered just above his right eye. Once the friends finished their tale, Dumbledore commented "What interests me most is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently hiding in the forests of Albania."

Mr Weasley was shocked at that revelation, so Nico explained. "He didn't enchant her, he possessed her, Headmaster. And he did it using that diary Harry's holding. Tom Riddle AKA Lord Voldemort wrote in it when he was seventeen, and I have reason to believe that it was a Horcrux." Everyone stared at him in confusion, except for Dumbledore. He stared at Nico, but more in shock than confusion. "I'd gladly explain it, but I had nightmares when I first learned about them, so it would probably be best if I wait." Harry and Neville on the other hand gave him a look that clearly said _You are explaining that later_.

"But, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley. "What's our Ginny got to do with — with — him?"

"His d-diary," Ginny sobbed. "I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year —" Oddly though, there was something that rang a little false in Ginny's words, especially when it came to her regret over the attacks. Nico dismissed it as him just hearing things.

"Ginny!" said Mr. Weasley, flabbergasted. "Haven't I taught you anything. What have I always told you? 'Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain'! Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic!"

"Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away," Dumbledore interrupted in a firm voice. _About time he realized_ _that_, Nico thought. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." He strode over to the door and opened it. "Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up," he added, twinkling kindly down at her. "You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice — I daresay the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."

"So, they're all okay?" Ron asked. Yet there was something _odd_ in his voice. It almost sounded as if he was . . . _disappointed?_ Nah, Nico figured he must have been hearing things. After all, why would Ron be disappointed? Sure, he never really liked Hermione or Colin, but he wouldn't want them dead . . . right?

McGonagall was then asked to alert the kitchens for a feast, leaving Dumbledore to deal with the four friends. He turned to them and said "I seem to remember telling Mr Potter and Mr Weasley that I would have to expel you if you broke any more rules." All four boys stared at him in shock. He wouldn't dare, not after their defeat of the Basilisk, would he? "Which goes to show that even the best of us must sometimes eat our words. You shall all receive Special Awards for Services to the School and, let me see, yes, I think 150 points each for Gryffindor for each of you." The friends all turned and grinned at each other. "But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in dangerous adventure. Why so modest, Gilderoy?" Ron explained what happened and laughed "Impaled on your own sword, Gilderoy?" Nico, Harry, and Neville stared at the Headmaster in shock. He had known that Lockhart was an impostor and he still hired the git? What were they supposed to make of that? "Now, Mr Weasley, if you would have an owl deliver these release papers to Azkaban. I believe we want our gamekeeper back." Dumbledore then said that he wanted a few words with Harry, but Nico and Neville stayed in the room. "When I said I wanted a few words with Harry, I meant alone, Mssrs Grace and Longbottom."

For a few seconds, Neville started to turn and leave, while Nico felt compelled to do the same. That is, until Harry said "I'm sure that whatever you have to say to me can be said in front of them, Professor. They've been through a lot with me and deserve to hear whatever you want to say to me."

Dumbledore looked a little upset. This was not going according to his carefully laid out plan. Why had his natural compulsion charm failed? But if he was going to continue playing the role of the wise and friendly grandfather, he would have to let it play out or lose his weapon and chance for true immortality. It would have been so much more difficult to do before he made his own Philosopher's Stone, but he had become used to sacrifice thanks to it. "Very well, they can stay. First off, I'd like to thank you. You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have possibly called Fawkes to you." Nico and Neville scoffed at that. Dumbledore probably didn't even know that Fawkes had gone to the Chamber until Harry mentioned he did. Phoenixes were not loyal to one person, and there was no way that Fawkes would have come for that reason. Fawkes obviously _liked_ Harry, and sensed that he was in danger. "And now I sense that you are troubled."

"It's just that, I couldn't help but notice certain things, certain similarities between me and Tom Riddle. Even he noticed it, said that there were strange likenesses between us."

"Did he now? And what do you think, Harry?"

"I don't think I'm like him! I mean, I'm in Gryffindor-"

"Exactly, Harry," Nico said. "All the similarities are superficial."

Neville agreed, adding in "Besides, who cares if you could have been a Snake? You're with us, and even if you weren't, you would still be the same Harry we know and love."

Harry blushed at Neville's words, but his doubts refused to be quieted. "Then why did the Hat say I could do well in Slytherin? And then everyone thought that I was the Heir because I could speak Parseltongue. Ron even tried to convince me to be resorted into Slytherin."

"You can speak Parseltongue, Harry," said Dumbledore calmly, "because Lord Voldemort, who is the last known remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin, can speak Parseltongue. Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure." Huh? But that almost made it sound like Dumbledore believed Harry to be . . . But Voldemort would have never . . . Unless it really was an accident? Nico would have to wait and see if his suspicions were proven correct. He really hoped he was wrong, otherwise they were in big trouble.

"So I should be in Slytherin. The Hat could sense Slytherin's power in me, yet it-"

"Put you in Gryffindor. Listen to me, Harry. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue, resourcefulness, determination, and, if I may say, a certain disregard for the rules. Yet the Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor. I think you know why that is, I believe."

"It only put me in Gryffindor because I asked not to go to Slytherin."

"Exactly," said Dumbledore, beaming once more. "Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." Harry sat motionless in his chair, stunned, while his two friends smiled at him, trying to cheer him up. "If you want proof, Harry, that you belong in Gryffindor, I suggest you look more closely at this." Dumbledore reached across to the desk, picked up the blood-stained silver sword, and handed it to Harry. Harry turned it over, the rubies blazing in the firelight. And then he saw the name engraved just below the hilt: Godric Gryffindor. "Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the Hat, Harry."

Then the door opened and two beings stepped through. One was Lucius Malfoy, and the other was a house-elf that Harry and Nico both recognized. "Dobby! So this is your master. The family you serve is the Malfoys." Huh? But Nico was sure that Dobby had worked at his family home several times. How was that possible, considering elves served one family throughout their lives unless they were freed? Lucius threatened Dobby and then turned to Dumbledore, forcing the three boys to part in order to let him through. He then accused Dumbledore of returning against the governor's orders, but Dumbledore turned it back on him, claiming that the governors had insisted that he come back after Ginny, and that they had also said that Lucius either threatened or bribed the other governors in order to get the suspension.

Then Lucius asked about the culprit behind the attacks. "The same person as last time, Lucius: Voldemort." Lucius flinched at the name, while his right hand almost instinctively reached for his left forearm. Dumbledore pretended not to notice his reaction and continued. "But this time he chose to act through another, by means of this diary. It was a clever plan, because if Harry and his friends hadn't discovered the diary, why, Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn't acted of her own free will. And imagine," Dumbledore went on, "what might have happened then. The Weasleys are one of our most prominent pure-blood families. Imagine the effect on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act, if his own daughter was discovered attacking and killing Muggleborns. Very fortunate the diary was discovered, and Riddle's memories wiped from it. Who knows what the consequences might have been otherwise. I do hope that no more of Lord Voldemort's old school things should find their way into innocent hands. The consequences for the one responsible would be severe."

"Well, let us hope that Mr Potter will always be around to save the day," Lucius said, glaring at Harry.

"Don't worry. I will be," Harry retorted. Lucius then turned to leave, kicking Dobby down the short flight of stairs that led to Dumbledore's desk, then hit him with his cane. The three boys were all upset about how Malfoy was treating Dobby, but they couldn't think of anything they could do to help him until Harry asked Dumbledore "Sir, I wonder if I could have that?" nodding towards the diary. His two friends stared at him in confusion, especially when Harry took off one of his socks and put it inside the diary.

Harry then raced after Mr Malfoy, with Nico and Neville following, just to see what Harry was planning, and to protect him if necessary. When he caught up with Lucius, Harry said "I have something of yours," and forced the diary into his hand.

"Mine? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do, sir. I saw you slipped the diary into Ginny Weasley's cauldron that day at Flourish and Blott's." Malfoy dismissed it, while handing the diary to Dobby. Nico and Neville smiled, so _that_ was Harry's plan! How very . . . Slytherin of him. "I wonder how Voldemort will react when he hears how callously you treated his diary, and all so you could avoid paying the Ministry a little money." Ooh, threats now! This was getting interesting!

"Why don't you prove that it was me, Potter?" Lucius then turned Harry's threat back on him. "And how do you think the Dark Lord is going to react when he finds out who destroyed the diary?"

"Well, I guess he'll just want to kill me all the more, but how is that any different than now?" Lucius then turned to leave, while Harry then turned to Dobby and whispered "Open it."

Dobby opened it and found Harry's sock inside. When Lucius called for him, Dobby said "Master has given Dobby a sock."

"What? I didn't give-" Then he turned and saw the sock in the diary.

"Master has presented Dobby with clothes. Dobby is free!" Then, just to rub it in, Harry lifted his pant leg, revealing the missing sock.

Lucius was absolutely _furious._ "You lost me my servant, boy!" He then grabbed the head of his cane and pulled it apart, revealing the wand inside. He pointed it at Harry, and called out _Avada_, but before he could finish the spell, Dobby tossed him down the corridor. When he got up, he turned to Harry and said "Your parents were meddlesome fools too. Mark my words, Potter. One day soon, you are going to meet the same sticky end."

When he walked off, Dobby thanked Harry and asked how he could repay Harry. "Just promise me one thing. Never try to save my life again." Dobby just smiled at that. Harry was about to walk away when he remembered something. "Dobby, you told me all this had nothing to do with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, remember? Well-"

"It was a clue, sir," said Dobby, his eyes widening, as though this was obvious. "Was giving you a clue. The Dark Lord, before he changed his name, could be freely named, you see?" The three boys laughed at Dobby's cryptic hint, and then went to the common room to clean up in preparation for the end-of-the-year feast. However, before they did that, Nico led them to Binns' classroom and told him that they had just discovered the Chamber of Secrets. Binns stared at them in shock before paling even more and floating out of the room.

The feast had just begun when Hermione joined up with them, running to the four boys, who all embraced her in a large hug. All except for Ron Weasley, who hung back, and almost seemed upset that she was back. Justin Finch-Fletchley also ran over and apologized for doubting Harry while also promising to do his best to make it up to him someday. He also explained the circumstances behind his petrification. Apparently Sir Nicholas had been talking to him about Harry and proving to him why he couldn't be the Heir when the Basilisk showed up and petrified the both of them. Dumbledore then stood up for the end of year announcements. "Before we become too befuddled by this excellent feast, let us have a round of applause for Professors Sprout and Snape and Madame Pomfrey, whose Mandrake Draught has been so successfully administered to all who had been petrified. Professor Lockhart will be unable to return next year as he needs to regain his memory. Also, in light of recent events, as a school treat, all exams have been cancelled." Everyone cheered at that, except for Hermione.

Then the main doors opened, revealing that Hagrid had finally returned. "Sorry I'm late. The owl that delivered my release papers got all lost and confused. Some ruddy bird called Errol." All the Gryffindors turned and stared at Ron, who was blushing so brightly it looked like he was on fire. Hagrid walked up the aisle towards the teacher's table, but stopped next to the five friends. "And I'd like to say that if it hadn't been for you five, I would still be You-Know-Where, so I'd just like to say thanks."

Harry stood up on the seat and said "There's no Hogwarts without you, Hagrid," and then pulled him into a hug. Then, just to show how popular he was, pretty much the entire school started applauding Hagrid to welcome him back. Only Draco and his lackeys refused to welcome him, although Draco almost seemed . . . worried about something, though Nico had no idea what he could be worried about. On the train home, they played games and practiced _Expelliarmus_, with Harry quickly becoming a master of the spell. Also, Ginny revealed why Percy had been acting strange that year: he had gained a new girlfriend, the Ravenclaw prefect that had been petrified with Hermione. She also pretended to ask the twins not to tease him, something that she obviously knew they'd do no matter what. Then, as the train slowed, Harry wrote down his phone number and gave it to his friends, saying "Call me at the Dursley's, okay? I don't want to go another two months with only Dudley to talk to." All four friends agreed, and then went their separate ways. Little did Harry or Nico know, but it was about to become their worst summer ever.

**A/N: **Well, that's it for this story. _Altered Fates Part III_ will be up in a week or two. Normally I wouldn't have put a note just for that, but there is something else I need to talk about. I read a story where the author got upset about the handful of stories out there that give Harry special abilities because of the Basilisk venom and I want to explain why I'm going to be doing that. First, the books never said that Phoenix tears remove the venom, they just cure it. Second, Basilisks are magical creatures, so it is possible that the survivors of their venom could gain abilities, and that is what's about to happen to Harry. Oh, and can anyone give an explanation as to why Harry's scar didn't burn in the presence of Riddle's diary like it does around Voldemort himself, or Slytherin's Locket?


	16. Sequel Up

It's my birthday, but you get the gift! The next part of Altered Fates, _Sirius Trouble _is now up. Picking up from _Heir of Slytherin_, it continues Nico's adventures at Hogwarts as Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban, while Nico attempts to uncover the truth, deal with his family, his new classes, and his friends' attempts at relationships.


	17. Discontinued

Sorry to what few fans I have for this, but I am officially discontinuing _Altered Fates_. There are so few of you reading this that I've decided to quit this story and write a different version, one that will hopefully gather more followers. I suppose that the main problem people have with _Altered Fates_ as it is, is the fact that I have OC's in the story. _Altered Fates V2_ will _not_ have any OC's except as additional students for Hogwarts that will hardly effect the storyline. Again, I'm sorry to what few followers I have, but it _will_ have a major rewrite. Look for Version 2 coming soon!


	18. Poll Repost

Okay, so you're not voting on the profile poll, so here's the list of stories again, with number and current status of the story, along with number of current votes towards each.

Altered Fates V2: Draco shows up for the 'Midnight Duel,' but instead of fighting Harry, he makes him an offer: delay the duel in exchange for magic lessons. That single offer leads to a whole new life for everyone at Hogwarts.

One chapter done, one in progress

Three votes

Harry Potter and the Hallows War: At the end of the Battle at Hogwarts, Harry, Hermione, Neville and Draco disappeared without a trace, and found themselves in an alternate reality, where Tom Riddle is Headmaster, and Dumbledore is a Dark Lord!

One chapter done, one in progress

One vote

Once More Unto the Breach: Harry Potter has died in his fight against Voldemort, for the 65th time, and Death has had enough. He is giving Harry one more chance to beat Voldemort, and this time, he will remember his last life. If Harry fails again, the human race is doomed.

Prologue in progress, three chapters done, one more in progress

No votes

Out of Desperation: Narcissa Malfoy is desperate to save her son, desperate enough to turn to the only person she knows would do his best to save her son: Harry Potter. Harry is willing, but he hides a few secrets of his own, including one that could change the course of the war. _HBP_ AU

Two chapters done, one in progress

One vote

Thanks to the Basilisk: There's only one person who's always been there when Harry's needed her, and when he comes close to losing her, it makes him realize what's really important, such as his love for Hermione Granger. _CoS_ AU

One chapter done, one in progress

One vote

The Kiss: On his way back to Hogwarts, Harry suffers from the Dementor's Kiss, but he survives. The changes that result, however, worry Dumbledore and makes him wonder, who controls Harry's body: Harry, or Tom. _PoA_-AU

One chapter complete, one in progress

One vote


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